Promotional products distributors are bullish on their sales growth prospects for 2025, but there’s widespread concern about the potential for tariffs to intensify on imports.

Those were two key takeaways from flash-polling of attendees at a standing room-only Education Day Wrap-Up at ASI Orlando 2025. Conducted in real time during the Jan. 4 event, the polling offered the first glimpse of the new year into industry sentiment on sales and tariffs, as well as end-client interest in so-called “higher-end” items and distributor activity regarding the selling of both print and promo.

Professional development sessions were packed during Education Day at ASI Orlando.

The polling occurred in between professional development speakers providing session attendees with quick-hit summaries of the most salient takeaways from their Education Day classes, which covered everything from leveraging artificial intelligence to understanding buyer personality types to tasteful self-promotion. Other topics included top promo trends for 2025, harnessing the power of social media to grow one’s business, and printing/apparel decoration innovation.

As for the upcoming sales outlook, polling showed that 86% of the promo pros surveyed believe their sales will increase in 2025 compared to 2024. More than half – 54% – believe sales will be up more than 10%; 32% say the range of revenue acceleration will be 1% to 10%. None expect sales to drop more than 10%.

Sales growth outlook for 2025 based on flash-polling at ASI Orlando.

Despite the optimism, promo pros had no shortage of concern regarding the possibility for new and/or heightened tariffs on imported goods. While it’s uncertain just what may occur, President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to increase tariffs on imports, with the U.S.’s top trade partners, China, Mexico and Canada, potentially among the nations targeted, as well as others.

The vast majority of products sold in the North American promotional products market are manufactured overseas, particularly in China and other Asian nations. As such, higher tariffs on all imports could drive up the prices suppliers charge distributors for products while also prompting any number of other developments. Depending on the exact nature of the duties, those could include everything from compelling suppliers to move some production to countries less affected by levies to even spurring increased end-client interest in Made-in-USA products.

Given all the unknowns and potential impacts, it perhaps wasn’t surprising that nearly 75% of promo pros responding to ASI’s flash poll said they were concerned about the potential for new tariffs. Of those, 35% said they were very concerned, while 39% said they were somewhat concerned. Still, not everyone was sweating: Just over a quarter said they weren’t worried at all.

Promo industry concern about potential new tariffs based on flash-polling at ASI Orlando.

Meanwhile, despite promo’s growing emphasis on product longevity and quality, as well as sustainability, another flash poll showed that only about 1 in 10 distributors feel that their end-clients have been significantly more interested in higher-end products of late. Nonetheless, nearly 40% said end-clients have been somewhat more interested in such items. About a quarter said there’s some interest but it’s not widespread, while another quarter said their buyers are keener on lower-priced items.

Roughly half of distributors are seeing notable increased interest from end-clients in higher-end products.

A fourth poll revealed that more than half – 55% – of distributors are already selling both promotional products and printing solutions. One-third of distributors polled said they sell a fairly even mix of print and promo, while 22% indicated that their mainstay business is merch but that they also incorporate print sales into the mix.

More than half of distributors polled indicated that they sell both print and promo.

Beyond participating in the polls, the Education Day Wrap-Up enabled attendees to get the need-to-know tips from the day’s sessions. Here is a sampling of the speakers and the points they highlighted:

Mimi Brown of AMP Up Success encouraged distributors to adapt their selling approach to match each buyer’s personality type. The flexibility makes you more likeable and valuable to the prospect, increasing the likelihood they’ll do business with you. “Mirroring their communication style increases connection and rapport,” Brown said.

Lisa Cross of NAPCO Research emphasized that promo distributors selling minimal or no printing solutions are likely missing out. Print, she said, is a broad profitable category that’s used by end-buyers across industries, including current clients. Adding print enables you to better serve your customers, diversify your revenue streams and drive sales growth, Cross said.

Sameena Safdar of Amplify Your Voice aimed to empower promo pros to embrace and hone their personal brands. Particular attention should be paid, she said, to strengthening one’s brand online – LinkedIn especially. “Be sure you’re not wasting your LinkedIn as mere electronic storage for your resume,” Safdar said. Even more broadly, she stressed that it’s pivotal to grow and engage with your network. It’s all part of social marketing and selling – and 78% of salespeople using social selling outperform those who don’t.

Meanwhile, Jenna Sackett of Stahls’ (asi/88984) encouraged attendees to embrace the flexibility and efficiency of heat printing to enhance their company’s product offerings – doing so can prove a top- and bottom-line builder, she said.

Mary Furto of Counselor Top 40 distributor PCNA (asi/66887) talked top trends for 2025. Among them? Wellness and products/solutions that promote it, as well as using branded merchandise in a way that creates joyful moments that bring comfort and connection to end-users.

Meg Erber of Counselor Top 40 distributor Proforma (asi/300094) shared that the secret to success is understanding and defining your purpose. Having a clear vision helps you stay focused and overcome obstacles. Erber emphasized the necessity of persistence and strategy, as well as investing in networking, mentorship and community involvement, all of which can create trust and open doors to opportunities.

Janet Johnson of the Janet E Johnson Agency offered savvy digital strategies for reaching target audiences and converting them into customers. The best results come from a combination of organic and paid social media initiatives, Johnson said. She also provided smart tips for leveraging AI and challenged promo pros to begin using these platforms to do things like create videos/ads. “It’s better to be imperfect than to not take any action at all,” she said. “Like Nike says, ‘Just Do It.’”

Mike D’Ottaviano of ASI talked about how ASI’s ESP+ platform can be used to run all aspects of a promo business. He shared how AI-fueled features can provide guidance on product search, presentation creation and email drafting. He also noted how end-clients can shop and buy promo directly from a distributor’s ESP+ website; clients can shop nearly 1 million promo items and distributors can fulfill the orders through ESP+.