Between December 26 and mid-January, the digital ad landscape makes a dramatic shift. Shoppers move from frantic gift-buying to slower, more introspective browsing, ad costs on the open web drop just as user intent spikes, and across nearly every vertical, people start envisioning a better version of themselves.

This period, now known as Q5, isn’t just a bonus month tacked onto Q4: It’s a psychological reset moment for consumers, offering brands the opportunity to reach audiences who suddenly have mental space to think about what they want next.

Below, I’ll break down this year’s biggest Q5 creative trends and messaging themes across three high-impact verticals — health and fitness, shopping/style, and personal finance — along with actionable takeaways for advertisers looking to capitalize on this short but high-impact time of year.

1. Healthy Living, Fitness and Exercising

More than any other category, health, wellness, and fitness dominate Q5. Resolution energy always peaks this time of year, but the creative that performs best is not aspirational perfection: What works well is authenticity, lower barriers to entry, and small wins.

Here are some creative trends and messaging themes to help you connect with consumers during this powerful reset window.

Authenticity > Perfection

Consumers aren’t looking for fitness models or staged routines right now: They want someone whose appearance echoes how they feel, i.e., tired and ready to start fresh. Creative that feels like user-generated content builds trust, so think shaky phone video, unfiltered progress clips, and “Expectation vs. Reality” posts.

“When it comes to weight loss and wellness imagery, you have to be ‘squeaky clean’ with premium publishers like Apple News, but that doesn’t mean boring. I’ve seen great success with natural imagery—like someone simply holding a GLP-1 pen—rather than overly staged before-and-afters, which often face higher rejection rates in premium environments.” — Jeremy Bade, Advertising Sales Manager

Strong creative angles include:

• The messy beginning (“Day 1…kind of.”).
• Micro-transformations (“Woke up with more energy than yesterday.”).
• Honest attempts (“Tried a new class. Didn’t die.”).

This format translates well into short-format video, making it ideal for Instagram Reels and TikTok.

Make the First Step Feel Easy

In Q5, audiences gravitate toward products or routines that feel accessible, not overwhelming. Instead of highlighting features, top-performing creatives emphasize simplicity.

Here are some examples of friction-reducing messaging:

• “Start with ten minutes.”
• “A routine you can actually stick to.”
• “No experience required.”

This theme pairs well with formats that support lightweight explanations. This might be a short product walkthrough, a carousel of simple steps, or a vertical video that reassures rather than pressures.

“To reduce friction during the New Year reset, we recommend starting with broad targeting on mobile and desktop to keep CPCs down while the algorithm learns. For health brands, targeting based on ‘intent’—like the content users are already engaging with in their email inboxes—is a powerful way to find people ready to take that first easy step.” — Kelly Basinger, Team Lead, Advertising Sales

Interactive and Immersive Touchpoints

People love to test-drive their future selves. Use engagement-driven content like quizzes, filters, quick polls, and mini-challenges to equip users to mentally “try on” a new routine before committing.

“Interactive funnels are huge for wellness. We’ve found that moving ‘personal identifiers’ like name or date-of-birth just a few slides deeper into a quiz or assessment can significantly skyrocket conversion rates. It’s about building trust through the interaction first.” — Jeremy Bade, Advertising Sales Manager

Your marketing language can include terms like:

• “Find your perfect workout match.”
• “Discover your wellness baseline.”
• “Join the seven-day mini reset.”

This builds stickiness and creates emotional buy-in, especially when paired with gamification such as badges, streaks, or leaderboard milestones.

Show the Transformation, Not the Product

Rather than highlighting ingredients, equipment, or specs, winning Q5 creative frames the offering as a tool for transformation. Outcomes, along with the feelings tied to those outcomes, do the heavy lifting.

“In the native environment, users have just finished an article and are looking for what’s next. If your creative leads with a transformation story—like ‘three common foods to avoid for better brain health’—it feels like a seamless discovery rather than an interruption. This ‘innocent’ approach to high-intent discovery is our bread and butter for eCom and wellness.” — Malik Elijah Ward, Sr. Advertising Sales Manager

High-performing transformation-focused messages include:

• “Energy that actually lasts through your busiest days.”
• “Fall asleep faster. Wake up clearer.”
• “Build confidence, one small win at a time.”

This approach performs especially well in open-web display, carousel, and native-plus formats, where emotion-forward headlines and imagery drive higher engagement and scroll-stopping power.

Community as a Selling Point

The lone-wolf approach to fitness is fading: Today’s consumer wants a shared workout experience, along with accountability. Show audiences not only the product, but also the support system that comes with it.

Effective community-driven messages include:

• “Join thousands of people starting over — just like you.”
• “Real coaches. Real feedback. Real progress.”
• “Train together. Stay consistent together.”

In Q5, community is more than a bonus feature, it’s part of the core value proposition that pushes users from intention to action.

The Rise of Preventive Care and Longevity

More consumers now see wellness as long-term self-preservation rather than a short-term aesthetic change. Q5 creative that taps into proactive health outperforms bare-minimum “weight loss” messaging.

“We are seeing a shift where wellness is viewed as a long-term investment. To scale these campaigns, we utilize ‘Predictive Audiences.’ Once a campaign hits a threshold of conversions, our algorithm identifies users with similar long-term behaviors and targets them before they even search for a solution, often improving CPAs by 25-30%.” — Kelly Basinger, Team Lead, Advertising Sales

Some effective preventive care and longevity messaging includes:

• “Future-proof your health one habit at a time.”
• “Invest in your next 40 years.”
• Build stronger bones for the years ahead.”

This type of messaging pairs beautifully with formats that support storytelling. Consider hero imagery, vertical video, and bold, future-focused headlines that help users imagine the healthier self they’re working toward.2. Shopping, Style, and Fashion

Retail behaves differently in Q5. Once the last ornaments are packed away, consumers enter a reflective, self-reinvention mindset. They’re eager to refresh wardrobes, redeem gift cards, and shape the version of themselves they want to be in the new year. Below are some current creative trends impacting this category.

“New Year, New Aesthetic” Video Hauls

Users love to watch others edit, clean, and refresh their wardrobes. Q5 haul videos perform especially well because they match the audience’s internal monologue, which asks, “What is my aesthetic going into 2026?”

“The mindset of a user in Q5 is uniquely primed for ‘the next.’ They’ve finished their holiday shopping for others and are now consuming content to define their own new-year identity. Video hauls succeed here because they aren’t just ads; they are ‘discovery’ experiences that provide the visual cues users are already hunting for as they mentally build their 2026 aesthetic.” — Abby Burdick, Advertising Sales Manager, Large Enterprise

High-performing creative angles include:

• “Designing my entire vibe for the new year.”
• “From cluttered closet to clean aesthetic in one reset.”
• “What I’m keeping vs. what I’m finally letting go of.”

As you’re posting these video hauls, keep your tone relatable and real, not overly polished or influencer-perfect.

Style Resolutions

With the reset of a new year, shoppers reassess their wardrobes and shift toward pieces that support the life they’re building. This is where “style resolutions” take hold, turning purchases into intentional identity upgrades.

“To hit aggressive ROAS goals for style-conscious brands, we utilize ‘Predictive Audiences.’ Once we capture enough signal from early Q5 shoppers, we stop looking just for demographics and start targeting users based on their specific behaviors across the open web. This often leads to a significant lift in high-value conversions during the January refresh window.” — Abby Burdick, Advertising Sales Manager, Large Enterprise

Messaging that resonates:

• “Define your 2026 look.”
• “Dress for who you’re becoming.”
• “Refresh your wardrobe, refresh your mindset.”

This narrative works across nearly every open-web creative format, from vertical video to static display to carousel “before and after” outfits.

Gift Card Redemption Campaigns

Q5 often sees consumers holding extra money in the form of gift cards. In fact, one study found that six out of 10 people received gift cards for Christmas in 2024. Nearly half of those consumers redeemed all their gift cards by Valentine’s Day. That gives brands the opportunity to:

• Retarget users whose behavior signals gift card ownership.
• Run dynamic creative showing remaining balance or suggested pairings.
• Use timely headlines like “Your card = Your new look.”

It’s important to act quickly, since the gift card spending window closes fast. These consumers are high-intent purchasers who can often be prompted with a reminder that they have extra funds to spend.

“For retail partners, the ‘cookie pool’ of recent Q5 site visitors is where we see the most explosive ROAS—sometimes exceeding 20X on retargeting. By starting with a broad prospecting approach early in the quarter to identify ‘refresh’ intent, we can then use our DCO (Dynamic Creative Optimization) tools to hit those same users with specific product reminders, effectively capturing those gift card funds while they are top-of-mind.” — Abby Burdick, Advertising Sales Manager, Large Enterprise

The “Treat Yourself” Moment

Post-holiday spending is about self-care, not gifting. Once the pressure of finding the perfect gift for everyone else fades, consumers shift toward treating themselves. Lean into that emotional exhale with language that encourages them to click that “buy” button.

“We’ve seen that ‘Self-Care’ and ‘Treat Yourself’ messaging performs exceptionally well in unique placements like the top of the inbox in Yahoo or MSN Mail. Users are in a ‘to-do’ mindset when checking mail, and a well-timed, intentional offer for something they actually want—not a gift for someone else—is highly effective.” — Kelly Basinger, Team Lead, Advertising Sales

High-performing angles include:

• “You’ve taken care of everyone else. Now it’s your turn.”
• “Start the year with something that feels like you.”
• “Have extra holiday cash? Treat yourself.”

Q5 is the ideal time to guide shoppers toward purchases that feel restorative, intentional, and easy to justify.

Reframing Clearance as a Fresh Start

Consumers aren’t alone in seeking a restart at the end of the year. Q5 is traditionally one of the biggest clearance periods of the year, as retailers aim to rid themselves of extra inventory. But, clearance messaging doesn’t have to read like a bargain bin: When framed as a reset, it becomes aspirational instead of transactional.

Some examples of strong clearance messaging:

• “Build your new capsule wardrobe from our year-end edit.”
• “Start the year with a closet that feels intentional.”
• “Refresh your daily habits with our final picks of the season.”

Instead of green tags and percentages, pair this messaging with lifestyle imagery to elevate your creative.

“Don’t just run transactional clearance ads. Use DCO (Dynamic Creative Optimization) to show suggested pairings or capsule wardrobe edits based on what the user has previously viewed. This reframes ‘clearance’ as ‘intentional selection,’ which drives much higher engagement from retail audiences looking for a fresh start.” — Abby Burdick, Advertising Sales Manager, Large Enterprise

Returns and Exchanges as an Upsell Opportunity

Retailers expect 15.8% of annual sales to be returned in 2025, and a large share of those returns happen in the final week of the year. If you haven’t already optimized your return and exchange experience, Q5 is the perfect time to reduce friction and encourage upsells. This turns a loss into a conversion opportunity.

Here are a few messaging examples to help with upsells:

• “Didn’t like it? Let’s find something you’ll love.”
• “Not the perfect match? Your better option is waiting.”
• “Trade it in for something you’ll reach for every day.”

Best of all, turning a return into the right fit can boost customer satisfaction, which may turn a gift recipient into a lifetime customer.

“We can take the high-intent keywords users are already searching for—like specific products or return policies—and use those to find them in a less competitive environment. By showing them a ‘better match’ or a complimentary, display item on the sites they visit after searching, we aren’t just bidding against everyone else on a search page; we’re using that intent to lead them toward an upsell when they’re most open to an alternative.” — Kelly Basinger, Team Lead, Advertising Sales

3. Personal Finance (Fintech, Banking, and Budgeting Apps)

Q5 is to finance what November is for retail. It’s the moment when intent, emotion, and urgency come together. Nearly two thirds of Americans are planning a finance-based resolution in 2026, and 71% say they have a plan to reach that goal.

In the weeks following Christmas, consumers are actively seeking a simple but clear approach to reaching their financial goals, combined with the opportunity to start the year with a clean slate. That gives fintech brands a prime opportunity to position themselves as the go-to partner for a fresh financial start.

Below are the creative trends and messaging themes that resonate most with Q5 audiences in the personal finance space.

Year-in-Review Storytelling

Consumers respond strongly to creative that reflects where they are financially and where they could be if they reach their goals. “Your year at a glance” storytelling, whether hypothetical or personalized, makes New Year’s resolutions feel concrete.

Strong examples of year-in-review messaging include:

• “Here’s what you saved this year.”
• “Imagine what you could build by summer.”
• “You’re closer than you think to a down payment.”

For best results, pair this messaging with visuals that have clean, minimal design.

“To maximize impact, don’t just show general savings stats. We use ‘Predictive Audiences’ to identify users based on their specific financial behaviors across the open web. Once we’ve gathered enough conversion signals, the algorithm finds users with similar intent—like those looking to build a down payment—improving CPAs by 25-30% compared to broad targeting.” — Kelly Basinger, Team Lead, Advertising Sales

Zero-Stress Saving and Budgeting

In Q5, shoppers are looking for relief after a month of heavy spending. Consumers don’t want restrictions, though: Instead, they gravitate toward tools that support them in their financial goals. The most effective creative removes pressure and replaces it with ease, showing that better money habits can start with small, automated steps rather than major lifestyle overhauls.

Some effective messaging for this pain point includes:

• “Set it up once. Watch it grow.”
• “Budgeting without spreadsheets.”
• “Automation that works while you live your life.”

This approach pairs naturally with solutions offering automated rules, flexible goal-setting, or quick, intuitive onboarding.

Problem/Solution Short Videos

Problem/solution videos can be especially effective in Q5, particularly for small, direct-to-consumer businesses with audiences looking to learn about a tool before trying out a new solution. With consumers already in a resolution-driven mindset, this format cuts through uncertainty by showing why they’re struggling and how they can fix it.

“Vertical video is the ideal format for this vertical because it mirrors how users consume ‘quick-fix’ content. We’ve found that leading with a relatable pain point—like ‘Ever wonder where your holiday budget went?’—immediately reduces the friction often associated with banking apps and increases CTR on our mobile-first placements.” — Malik Elijah Ward, Sr. Advertising Sales Manager

The most effective problem/solution videos follow a three-step format:

• Call out a reliable pain point: Use messaging like, “Ever wonder where your money went?” This immediately signals empathy and relevance, reducing the friction that often comes with financial topics.
• Present a quick, achievable fix: Highlight a single feature or action step that solves the identified problem. No deep dive required.
• Show the immediate reward: Demonstrate how the tool delivers clarity, control, or quick savings with messaging such as, “Track every dollar in seconds.” This helps viewers visualize how the solution could impact their day-to-day lives.

Vertical video is ideal here because it mirrors the native environments where consumers already consume quick, problem-solving content.

Positioning the Tool as an Accountability Partner

In Q5, motivation is high, but so is the risk of going off track. People looking for financial change want more than dashboards — they want built-in support that helps them stick to their goals. Tools that act like an accountability partner resonate far more than those that simply display numbers.

Some effective angles to consider include:

• 90-day action plans.
• Debt repayment journeys.
• Nest egg kickstarters.
• Weekly progress check-ins.

Additionally, ensure any headlines emphasize achievable goals to make progress feel realistic and within reach.

Authority and Education Build Trust

Finance is a sensitive category, and Q5 audiences are especially cautious as they reevaluate their money habits for the year ahead. They’re looking for guidance that feels credible, calm, and grounded, rather than sales-driven. Educational, authority-driven creative performs well here because it reduces friction and positions the brand as a trustworthy partner for those working toward a financial reset.

“Trust is the currency of the fintech space. We recommend using ‘Advertorial-style’ content rather than just a landing page. If you can provide an expert-backed article on why a user should choose your tool before they hit the signup page, you’re not just buying a click; you’re building the authority needed to convert high-value leads.” — Kelly Basinger, Team Lead, Advertising Sales

Strong authority-building angles include:

• Clear, minimalist layouts that make complex topics feel simple.
• Expert insights that validate a user’s financial decisions.
• Straightforward charts that show a user’s progress at a glance.

When consumers feel informed rather than overwhelmed, they’re far more likely to explore deeper features and take meaningful action.

Tie Savings to a Big Life Goal

Generalizations rarely motivate. This is especially true in Q5, when people are actively imagining the version of themselves they want to become in the year ahead. This is the moment to anchor financial tools to specific, meaningful milestones that feel both exciting and actionable.

“In the personal finance and home services space, the offers that perform best are the ones that feel like ‘slam dunks’ because they are services people naturally use and need in their everyday lives. By narrowing the focus to these evergreen, real-world needs, the tool stops being a generic service and becomes a practical solution for the larger goals they’re already trying to fund.” — Malik Elijah Ward, Sr. Advertising Sales Manager

Some strong examples of this type of messaging are:

• “Save for your dream trip.”
• “Begin your homeownership journey today.”
• “Start your summer vacation fund now.”

This approach increases emotional resonance and perceived value, turning everyday saving into a path toward something tangible and inspiring.

Key Takeaway: Q5 Is the Reset Moment Brands Can’t Afford to Miss

While Q4 gets plenty of hype, Q5 is where savvy advertisers quietly gain ground. Consumer behavior is uniquely introspective this time of year as audiences actively seek products that help them build better daily routines. The most effective Q5 creative acknowledges this shift and meets users where they are — hopeful, reflective, and open to change.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How can advertisers effectively use the drop in Q5 CPMs on the open web to acquire new high-value customers, instead of just retargeting?

Q5 brings lower cost per milles (CPMs), allowing brands to expand beyond warm audiences and reach new shoppers who are exploring post-holiday options. This is the ideal moment to broaden targeting, test new creative variations, and run prospecting campaigns framed around long-term goals rather than holiday urgency. With more inventory and less competition, brands can cost-effectively introduce themselves to audiences who are finally ready to engage.

Realize is built for precisely the moments in the funnel when lower CPMs and higher intent intersect. Its predictive audience models use more than 17 years of behavioral data to identify users showing emerging intent. By combining Realize’s matchmaking artificial intelligence (AI) with high-visibility creative formats, advertisers can efficiently scale prospecting to reach new, high-value customers. As Q5 unfolds, Realize automatically reallocates spend toward the segments that show the strongest potential, allowing brands to capitalize on lower costs while building richer, more future-ready audiences.

Beyond standard native ads, what creative formats on the open web are best for capturing the “New Year, New Me” mindset?

Vertical video, carousels, and interactive formats like quizzes perform exceptionally well because they let users test-drive a new habit. Display units that highlight emotional outcomes like better sleep and clearer budgets also help motivate users during Q5.

Realize supports a wide range of conversion-focused creative formats beyond traditional native, making it ideal for Q5’s self-improvement mindset. Advertisers can deploy short-form vertical video, carousels, rich display units, and other immersive placements that help users visualize new habits or goals. Realize’s Social Importer tool also lets brands instantly repurpose top-performing social content for open-web placements, accelerating creative testing during a period when freshness and agility matter most. Together, these formats let marketers deliver emotionally resonant, high-impact creative to audiences ready for change.

How does advertising on the open web in Q5 allow brands to strategically test and prepare for sustained Q1 momentum?

Q5 is the proving ground for messaging, creative, and audience segmentation. Brands that test early enter Q1 with validated concepts, refined calls to action, and an understanding of what resonates emotionally with their audiences. This gives them a substantial performance advantage once competition increases again in late January and February.

Realize turns Q5 into a strategic testing ground, allowing advertisers to refine creative, messaging, and audience signals before Q1’s competition spikes. Its AI-driven optimization and automated bidding strategies reveal which themes, formats, and user segments respond best, while the landing page builder supports rapid iteration. By the time CPMs rise again in late January, Realize has already trained on weeks of high-quality engagement data, giving brands a validated roadmap and the ability to scale confidently into Q1.