Key takeaways
- Gmail’s Snooze Button will let users hide an email and have it reappear at the top of the inbox after a chosen interval (early reports: hours to weeks).
- The Snooze Button is one of several features Google is testing, alongside new sorting tabs (travel, finance, recent purchases) and a pinning tool to keep important messages at the top.
- Google is testing these changes to remain competitive and to let users customise their inbox experience.
- Tech‑savvy users can already approximate snooze functionality using Google Apps Script, though it requires scripting skills.
- For marketers, snooze could reduce immediate opens for time‑sensitive offers but increases the chance messages are read later rather than being ignored or lost.
Introduction
Sometimes, the morning seems to come just a little too early for your taste. Even though you know better, hitting that snooze button and trying to sneak in a few extra minutes before facing the day sure does feel good. While it might seem like a bit of a stretch, Google, ever the innovator in the digital world, potentially has plans to port this concept into your audience members’ inbox in the near future. If you rely on reaching out via email to spread your message about products, services, and deals, you’ll want to take a few minutes a learn a little more about Gmail’s “Snooze Button” and what it might mean for your brand moving forward.
What Exactly Would a Snooze Button Do?
First off, let’s explain exactly what this new feature in the Gmail inbox might do. To put it plainly, Google wants users to be able to use the Snooze Button as a way to check back in with messages at a later date. Instead of facing a decision on whether or not to read the email immediately, dump it in the virtual trash bin, or lose it beneath a tide of incoming messages, users can use this theoretical addition to the inbox interface to act on this item at a later date. No matter how long the user sets the “snooze” feature to hold the message – early reports claim that the duration of the feature can span from hours to weeks – once the allotted time limit ends, the message moves from an inactive status back to the top of the inbox with the other new entries.
Part of a Bigger Series of Changes
On its own, the Snooze Button is a clever tool that adds a new layer of inbox functionality to the Gmail graphic user interface. However, it’s important to note that it is just one of a slew of new features the tech giant is testing as it prepares yet another revamp of its email services. Aside from the ability to hold off messages for later, enhanced sorting features, like new tabs covering travel, finance, and recent purchases, are also currently in the works. Additionally, Google is also testing a new pinning tool, giving users a way to keep important messages, like time sensitive offers from your brand, at the top of the inbox with recently received emails.
The Reason Behind the Test
So why is Google messing with what most would describe to be a pretty good thing? The best answer to this is two-fold. First, when it comes to the inbox arms race between Gmail and its competitors, the old adage of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” doesn’t really apply. To keep itself in the position of industry leader, Google is always looking for the next great thing. Second, and perhaps more important, is the fact that giving users the ability to customize the inbox and create a setting that is conducive to their lifestyles is what makes Gmail so attractive. If Google wants to keep the reputation of offering the most interactive and intuitive email experience, constantly testing new features is just par for the course.
Familiar Ground for Tech Savvy Viewers
Of course, if your audience is already on the tech savvy side of things, the concept of an inbox snooze button is probably nothing new to them. With the advent of Google’s Apps Script tool, Gmail users have been able to create their own custom features that offer this same functionality. Obviously, if you’re not familiar with editing and writing serviceable web scripts, this isn’t the easiest process in the world. However, it does show that the demand is there for such a feature, adding even more credence to Google’s testing of the Snooze Button and its potential role as a Gmail interface staple.
Is This a Good or a Bad Thing for Your Brand?
Now that you’re an expert on Gmail’s Snooze Button, it’s time to delve into the potential ramifications of this addition to the inbox in relation to your marketed messages. While first impressions might lead you to think that this might only serve as a way for users to put off your emails indefinitely, that’s probably not be the case. Having a readily available way to sift through the clutter and keep these offerings in plain sight could add a new dimension to your marketing outlook. Sure, messages that deliver time sensitive offers could experience a few bumps in the road, but anything that gives your users a chance to read your messages, even if it’s not right away, is still better than these audience members completely ignoring it in the first place or losing it among the avalanche of incoming emails to their inboxes.
FAQ
It temporarily removes a message from active view and returns it to the top of the inbox when the user‑selected snooze period ends; early reports say the period can range from hours to weeks.
Early reports indicate the snooze duration can span from hours to weeks, allowing users to choose when the message reappears at the top of their inbox.
The Snooze Button is part of features Google is testing as it prepares a revamp of its email services, so it is not described as a final, universally launched feature.
Google is reportedly testing enhanced sorting tabs (travel, finance, recent purchases) and a pinning tool that keeps important messages at the top of the inbox with recently received emails.
The reasons are two‑fold: to stay competitive in the inbox ‘arms race’ and to offer users more ways to customize their inbox to match their lifestyles.
Yes. Tech‑savvy users have replicated snooze functionality using Google Apps Script to create custom features, but this requires scripting ability and isn’t easy for non‑technical users.
Snooze could delay immediate engagement with time‑sensitive offers and cause ‘bumps,’ but it also gives users a chance to read messages later instead of permanently ignoring or losing them among other emails.
