June Changed the Way I Think About Affiliate Marketing
June wasn't just my most successful month so far.
It was the month that completely changed how I think about affiliate marketing.
For years I'd heard the phrase, "Sell the benefits, not the features."
I understood what people meant, but I don't think I'd ever truly appreciated it until this month.
Then I remembered something that happened years ago, and suddenly it all made sense.
The Cycling Lesson I Didn't Appreciate at the Time
Years ago, I used to go cycling with my cousin and a friend. I was always the quickest up the hills.
Gradually, though, that changed.
I started falling behind, and I remember searching online for supplements that might help.
Looking back, the interesting part wasn't the supplements themselves.
I never woke up thinking, "I need to buy supplements."
I woke up thinking, "I want to keep up with my friends again."
The supplement wasn't the goal.
It was simply something I believed might help me get back to doing something I enjoyed.
People Don't Really Buy Products
That memory completely changed how I look at buying decisions.
People don't buy products.
They buy the life they believe the product will give them.
Once I started looking at every purchase through that lens, it became much easier to understand why some products sell so well.
The product is rarely the destination.
It's the bridge between where someone is today and where they want to be.
Looking Beyond the Features
When you think about products this way, the specifications become much less interesting than the outcome they create.
- An electric bike isn't a 250W motor. It's choosing to leave the car at home and enjoying the journey instead.
- A paddleboard isn't military-grade PVC. It's spending a peaceful evening on the water after work.
- An air conditioner isn't 9,000 BTUs. It's finally getting a comfortable night's sleep during a heatwave.
- A watch isn't stainless steel and a quartz movement. It's feeling more confident when you walk into a meeting or a restaurant.
The features are still important, but they're rarely what people are really buying.
How It Changed My Content
That realisation completely changed the way I approached my TikTok videos throughout June.
Instead of spending most of the video explaining what a product is, I started showing what life might look like after someone owns it.
The features didn't disappear.
They still had an important role.
People often use features to justify a purchase once they've already started imagining themselves owning the product.
But the decision itself usually begins much earlier.
It begins when someone sees a version of themselves they aspire to become.
What I'm Focusing on Next
Looking back, this feels like one of the most valuable lessons I've learned all year.
It's changed the way I think about products, content and marketing as a whole.
Going forward, I'll be spending far less time thinking about product specifications and much more time thinking about the experience people are really hoping to buy.