[5] The song is a midtempo, 60's-inspired,[6] piano-driven, crisp, swaying ballad[7] over which Sia's vocals, described as "calm but energetic" by mxdwn, tell a snowman not to cry as he will melt.

[1][11][12] Sia performed "Snowman" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show,[13] and on the finale of the fifteenth season of American reality TV series The Voice.

The challenge sees TikTok users attempt to sing a portion of the song, lasting forty seconds, in one breath.

[2] Sia subsequently released a "Snowed In & Slowed Down Remix" of the track, which was later featured on the Snowman Deluxe Edition of Everyday is Christmas on 5 November 2021.

[17] Slate named it the best song on Everyday Is Christmas, noting it "[takes] something we associate with winter and [applies] it to a universal theme.

[3] Upon its initial release in 2017, "Snowman" debuted and peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Holiday Digital Songs Sales chart dated 2 December 2017.