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Many companies are doing virtual events right now because of COVID-19, and the problem most of them have is that they are not that engaging. When you attend an event in person, you are engaging with the event; You committed to travel, carved out time out of your schedule to be there, perhaps even scheduled a babysitter. Having that in-person event creates a physical connection, or a memory if you will, such as the people met while networking, some swag they got at the event, or even the venue if held at a resort-style venue. 

What is important to those purchasing promotional products this year? Here are the priorities that are trending in promotional products in 2020:

The big, scary word these past two weeks is tariffs, and while it sounds nasty, it's really not if you start planning for it. If you have not paid attention to the news lately, trade talks with China have gone south, and now there is currently a 25% tariff on certain goods, and another 25% possible to take hold over the summer that will affect almost all products. This means that most items you find in stores, like electronics, tools, clothing, and more, are going to go up in price this summer - just the cold hard facts. The jump is too big for a business to "eat" until the next standard price increase.

ASI (Advertising Speciality Institute) recently put out this article showing promotional product sales growth as 3.4% in the first quarter.