Christmas Day may end the gifting rush, but Pinterest says marketers should not assume shoppers disappear with it.
The platform is encouraging advertisers to rethink their creative strategies for the period between Christmas and New Year, often referred to as Q5. During this short window, browsing behaviour begins to change. Users are still searching, saving and shopping, but the focus starts moving away from presents and festive preparation toward personal plans, new routines and the year ahead.
For brands, that creates an unusual marketing moment. Holiday campaigns may technically still be running, yet the reasons people are browsing have already started to shift.
Pinterest’s advice is not necessarily to stop advertising after Christmas. It is to change what those ads are saying.
Pinterest Sees Q5 as a Different Kind of Shopping Period
Pinterest describes the days between Christmas and New Year as a period when engagement remains strong, particularly through searches and saves. What changes is the mindset behind those actions. Before Christmas, users may be focused on gifts, celebrations, decorations and last-minute purchases. After December 25, attention increasingly turns toward self-purchases, personal plans and ideas that can be carried into January.
That shift matters because Christmas-themed creative can age very quickly. Gift guides, shipping deadlines and “last chance before Christmas” messages may suddenly feel outdated even if the campaign itself is scheduled to continue for several more days. Pinterest argues that marketers should refresh those assets rather than allow them to continue unchanged.
The Message Moves From Gifting to Self-Purchase
One of the clearest post-Christmas changes is the move away from buying for other people. After weeks of gift-focused shopping, users often start considering products and services for themselves. Pinterest sees this as an opportunity for advertisers to reposition the same products around personal use rather than seasonal gifting.
The change can look different across categories. Beauty brands may shift toward fresh routines, skincare or self-care. Fashion advertisers can move away from Christmas party outfits and toward everyday looks or wardrobe updates. Home brands can replace festive decorations with organisation, comfort and practical improvements. Food and wellness marketers may begin introducing January-focused habits while the holiday period is still winding down.
The product itself may not need to change. The context around it does.
New Year Planning Begins Before January 1
Pinterest also suggests that advertisers should not treat Christmas and New Year as two completely separate marketing periods. Users can still be enjoying the final days of the festive season while already thinking about what comes next.
That means travel, fitness, home improvement, fashion, financial planning and personal development can begin appearing in user behaviour before January officially starts. The overlap gives brands a chance to gradually change their creative instead of making an abrupt switch from Christmas advertising to New Year campaigns.
Pinterest highlighted TUI’s Q5 campaign in Germany as one example. The travel company mixed festive imagery with sunny holiday destinations and early-booking messaging. Pinterest reported that the campaign reached 41% more people through Premiere Spotlight placements than TUI’s annual average, while video completion rates for its Premiere Spotlight takeover placements were 29% higher than its annual average for individual placements.
The broader point is that advertisers do not always need an entirely new campaign. Sometimes a change in imagery, copy or product framing can make an existing campaign feel relevant again.
Urgency Gives Way to Practical Value
Holiday advertising often depends heavily on urgency. Messages around shipping deadlines, limited buying windows and last-minute gifting can work before Christmas because shoppers are racing against the calendar. Once December 25 has passed, that pressure disappears almost immediately.
Pinterest recommends replacing some of that urgency with usefulness. Instead of telling people they are running out of time, brands can explain how a product fits into the customer’s life after the holidays. That might mean helping someone start a new routine, organise their home, plan a trip or simply enjoy something for themselves.
Pinterest says one in two of its monthly users continues shopping in the weeks after the festive period. The buying intent has not necessarily disappeared. The motivation behind the purchase has changed.
For marketers, that means post-holiday creative may perform better when it answers a practical question rather than creating artificial pressure.
Campaign Goals Should Shape the Q5 Creative
Pinterest also recommends adjusting post-holiday creative according to the campaign objective. Awareness campaigns may benefit from broader inspiration and aspirational messaging, while consideration campaigns can focus more heavily on how products fit into upcoming routines or personal plans.
Conversion-focused campaigns can become more direct by putting the product itself at the centre of the creative and simplifying the path to purchase. The key is making sure the message matches what users are likely to be thinking about during the post-Christmas period.
This is particularly relevant for advertisers that schedule December campaigns weeks in advance. The campaign dates may still be correct, but the creative may no longer reflect the user’s mindset by the time Christmas is over.
Pinterest Encourages Faster Creative Refreshes
Pinterest is also promoting its advertising tools as a way to help marketers update Q5 campaigns without building completely new creative from scratch. Its Media Library allows advertisers to organise and reuse existing assets, while Smart Assembly can create additional variations from material that is already available.
The platform also recommends reviewing campaign optimisation settings before increasing spending. The idea is to make sure the campaign structure, targeting and creative are still aligned with the advertiser’s objective before more budget is committed.
Pinterest says its internal data has found a correlation between ad groups containing five to ten ads and a 2.7% increase in return on ad spend compared with the global average. That figure does not mean adding more ads will automatically improve every campaign, but it does reinforce Pinterest’s argument that creative variety can matter.
For smaller marketing teams, this approach may be particularly useful. Q5 is short. Building an entirely new campaign for only a few days may not always be practical.
Post-Holiday Marketing Is About Changing the Reason to Buy
Pinterest’s Q5 guidance ultimately comes down to one thing: user intent does not disappear after Christmas, but it changes quickly.
Before December 25, shopping is often about other people. Gifts, parties, family gatherings and festive preparation dominate the conversation. Once Christmas passes, attention can shift toward personal goals, travel plans, home projects, new routines and purchases that feel more self-directed.
That gives advertisers a chance to keep campaigns running without making them look like leftover Christmas promotions.
The audience may still be there.
They are simply looking for something different.
Sources
Pinterest Business — How to Refresh Your Creative for Q5
https://business.pinterest.com/en-au/blog/refresh-your-creative-for-q5/
Social Media Today — Pinterest Offers Post-Holiday Marketing Tips
https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/pinterest-offers-post-holiday-marketing-tips/831715/
