What are the hot promotional products in 2025?

By Samantha O'Rourke

Giving away branded promotional products is a great way to increase brand awareness and create meaningful connections with prospective customers. While there are several creative ways for companies to give away these items, one of the most cost-effective methods is to use them to your advantage by handing them out at conferences, trade shows and similar events.

Picture a trade show floor: When people attend these events, why are they there? A majority attend to discover new products, services and brands. This means a built-in audience that’s looking for new companies to work with—and a ton of lead-generation potential.

As you meet with prospective customers, it’s important to give them something to remember you by. For a long time, this meant handing out business cards. Today, however, there’s a more impactful way to increase brand awareness and make an impression with customers: giving away unique promotional items with your logo and company name.

Wondering what the best promotional items are to give away at these events? Check out our overview of what makes a great promotional product plus some creative promotional products ideas for inspiration.

How do I choose a promotional product?

When it comes to the best promotional items for a small business, there are three main characteristics to consider: usefulness, uniqueness and quality.

• If you aren’t giving away useful promotional items, they’re less likely to make an impact. If you give away something that’s useful, there’s a greater chance they’ll hold onto the item longer—increasing its potential to influence buying decisions. Popular, useful items include pens and pencils, notebooks and stationery and drinkware.
• Giving away unique promotional items is the best way to set yourself apart from the competition. That means thinking beyond items like branded pens, pencils and keychains. Sure, they’re useful, but also they’re more common. Instead, try to think outside the box. At 4imprint, you can customize promo items across dozens of categories, including snacks and food, tech accessories and stress relievers.
• Finally, quality materials matter. According to one study opens in new window, nearly three-fourths of consumers “make a connection between a company’s reputation and the quality of its promotional products.” By giving away cheap promotional items, you might give the impression that your company routinely cuts corners. This point highlights the importance of working with a reputable promotional items company—one that uses quality materials and processes to ensure longevity, while keeping costs low. 4imprint guarantees 100% satisfaction, promising certain delivery, certain value and certain happiness.

Each year, the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) releases an edition of their Ad Impressions Study. In it, they compare and rank different promotional products based on metrics like which items consumers hold on to the longest, which generate the most impressions, which are most likely to influence buying decisions and more.

What are the trending promotional items for 2025?

If you’re looking for a list of popular and trending promo items, you’re in the right place! Here are five of the best promotional items worth considering for your next giveaway or event:

1. Pet supplies: With at least two-thirds opens in new window of American families having household pets, many will appreciate receiving items like pet bandanas, tennis balls and collapsible food/water bowls.
2. Travel accessories: Consider people who travel for work, like attending conferences and trade shows. Travel accessories like toiletry bags, luggage tags and neck pillows are useful and make great giveaway items.
3. Food & candy: Looking to offer promotional items with great taste? There are plenty of creative options for edible promo products—from candy, chocolate, mints and gum to popcorn, nuts and snacks.
4. Desk toys and stress relievers: Everyone loves stress relief (especially with the rising popularity of self-care opens in new window), so why not give away branded items like executive toys, stress balls and fidget spinners.
5. Tech: Perhaps the top trending category of promotional items, you can’t go wrong giving away branded tech accessories. Offer something like a charging device, stylus, USB flash drive or other tech accessory.

For even more ideas, you can browse 4imprint’s website for the newest and hottest customizable products—as well as products exclusive to 4imprint.

Why 4imprint?

Now that you know what’s hot in promotional products, you’re probably wondering how to find the best promotional items company to bring your vision to life. At 4imprint, we focus on working with customers to design unique and useful promo items for increasing brand awareness and enhancing other marketing efforts opens in new window.

When you work with 4imprint, you can expect affordable products made of high-quality materials. You can also expect products to be competitively priced, delivered on time and 100% satisfaction guaranteed.