Two technologies are clear frontrunners when it comes to 2025 and beyond. Artificial intelligence and TikTok are two trends that are continuing to pick up pace. Naturally, entrepreneurs and marketers want to know how to leverage these tools for better e-commerce conversions and marketing campaigns.Â
So, if you’re looking to supercharge your online business or even bring additional traffic into your physical business via social media, continue reading. We’ll discuss some powerful direct response copywriting techniques that can be applied to this combination of digital tech. Even if you don’t have experience with social media or AI, we’ll explain how to leverage them step by step.
1. Stop the scroll
On TikTok, users have a short attention span. So your first goal of going viral is to stop them in their tracks. The user needs to be more interested in viewing your content than they are scrolling onward. To accomplish this, you want to craft something called a hook in direct response terms.
This concept applies to both B2C and B2B content. Luckily, even if you’re not a master copywriter yourself, you can leverage AI tools such as Claude or ChatGPT to write the hook for you.
Here’s an example of a prompt you can copy and paste to a generative AI program:
“Your role in this exercise is to create viral TikTok content. You are a master at direct response and viral videos. Write a hook that captures the user’s attention instantly. Make sure to include a compelling fact, question, or tease in the first one to three seconds.“
If you prefer to write the hook yourself, of course you can do so. But leveraging AI will let you make the most of your time and focus on higher level strategy. But do not skip this step. If you don’t capture eyes and ears in the first few seconds, then nothing else in your video will matter.
2. Encourage further engagement
Once you’ve pasted your prompt into AI for your hook, you still need to create the core portion of your content. In other words, you want to channel the initial attention that you received into something deeper and more interesting.
This step takes the user further down your sales funnel and encourages them to like, trust, and take instruction from your brand. To accomplish this, you can prompt your AI with something like the following:
“Using the premise of the hook you created, provide elaboration. Cite figures, facts, social proof, or other hard data to encourage continued viewing. Use controversial yet appropriate content when possible. Appeal to emotions, but avoid subjective statements, relying on facts instead.“
3. Include a call to action
No matter the platform, any marketing intended to create a response from the user should include a call to action. Once you’ve automated the first two portions of your viral TikTok content, you just need to end with a simple request or instruction.
This call to action channels the user’s energy and enthusiasm in your product towards a productive end. For instance, you may want more signups, subscriptions, or purchases. You can either provide a direct call to action such as: Purchase this product by clicking on the link.” Additionally, you can provide a softer call to action such as “Learn more by clicking the link in the bio.”
4. Automating the video creation
If you’re not the type of person who wants to be on video or hire people to record themselves, you can use AI for that as well. Simply perform a Google search for generative AI video, and you’ll find various programs that will create lifelike content for you.
Feed it the script that you’ve created in the previous steps, and upload a few stock photos or video footage as reference points. From here, the AI will do the work to create a human-looking avatar that appears like they’re speaking the script in real time. This final step of automation truly sets you above the competition and allows you to get more done in less time.
To conclude
TikTok is highly competitive, so of course creating viral content is not going to be easy without the right strategies. But if you leverage AI using the steps we outlined above, you can increase visibility and even conversions.
While every single ad or video of yours will not be viral, you can certainly see improvements in just a few weeks with consistent input. So leverage the digital marketing and direct response strategies we just mentioned. Use the popularity of TikTok and AI to make your online presence more profitable and more valuable for your audience.