TikTok Tips & Strategies

How to Create Viral TikTok Videos with AI

By Spencer Lanoue
October 31, 2025

Using AI to generate viral TikToks isn't about replacing your creativity - it's about giving it a massive upgrade. From breaking through creative blocks to optimizing every last detail for the algorithm, AI can be the most valuable partner on your content creation team. This guide will walk you through a step-by-step process for using AI to brainstorm, script, produce, and publish TikTok videos that people actually want to watch and share.

Brainstorming Viral Hooks and Ideas with AI

The journey to a viral video starts with a great idea, but "just have a great idea" is terrible advice. This is where AI excels: turning a vague notion about your niche into a concrete, attention-grabbing video concept. It’s all about giving your AI assistant the right information.

Step 1: Feed the AI the Right Context

Your AI tool is a blank slate. To get brilliant ideas, you need to provide it with high-quality context about your brand and audience. Think of it as briefing a new creative partner. Tell your AI chatbot (like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini) everything it needs to know.

  • Your Niche: What is your specific area of expertise? (e.g., "second-hand fashion flips," "home barista coffee tips," "productivity hacks for freelancers").
  • Your Target Audience: Who are you trying to reach? What are their pain points, interests, and desires? (e.g., "college students on a budget," "new parents overwhelmed with baby gear," "gamers looking for ergonomic setups").
  • Your Content Goals: What do you want your videos to achieve? (e.g., "grow my following," "drive traffic to my blog," "sell my handmade pottery").
  • Your Tone: What's your brand's personality? (e.g., "funny and relatable," "aspirational and inspiring," "educational and straightforward").

Here's a sample prompt you can customize:

Act as a social media strategist specializing in viral TikTok content. My niche is apartment gardening for beginners. My target audience is millennials living in small city apartments who want to grow their own food but think they don't have enough space or sun. My tone is encouraging and simplified. Based on this, generate 10 video ideas that are likely to perform well.

Step 2: Ask for Hooks, Not Just Ideas

On TikTok, the first three seconds are everything. A great idea can fail completely without an immediate hook. Instead of just brainstorming topics, ask the AI to specifically generate scroll-stopping hooks.

Building on the previous prompt, you can follow up with:

Great, I like the idea about "common mistakes beginner gardeners make." Now, write 5 different hooks for a video on that topic. Use these formats:
1. A direct question ("Are you making this mistake...?")
2. A controversial take ("Your plants WISH you would stop doing this.")
3. A "secret" reveal ("Here's the one thing no one tells you about apartment gardening.")
4. A listicle intro ("3 reasons your herbs are dying...")
5. A "storytime" beginning ("I killed 5 basil plants before I realized this one mistake.")

Step 3: Iterate and Refine

Don't settle for the AI's first batch of ideas. Treat it like a brainstorming session. If you get an idea that's close but not quite right, ask the AI to refine it. You can tell it to make an idea "funnier," "more dramatic," or "simpler for a total beginner." By going back and forth, you'll polish a decent idea into something with real viral potential.

Scriptwriting and Storyboarding with AI

Once you have a winning concept, the next step is planning the actual video from start to finish. A well-structured script saves you time during filming and editing, and it ensures your message is clear and engaging.

Crafting the Perfect Script

A good TikTok script has three core parts: the hook (the first 1-3 seconds), the value (the main points), and the call-to-action (CTA). AI can help you structure all three effortlessly. Provide it with your chosen hook and idea, and ask for a complete script.

Here's a prompt you can use:

Write a 30-second TikTok video script based on the hook: "Your salads are boring because you're skipping this one step." The video should teach how to make a simple, game-changing vinaigrette.
- **Hook:** Start with the controversial statement immediately.
- **Value:** Briefly list the 3 ingredients (oil, vinegar, mustard) and show a hyper-quick pour of each into a jar.
- **CTA:** End with a prompt for engagement, like "comment your favorite salad topping."
Format the script with clear cues for visuals and spoken lines (voiceover or on-camera dialogue).

Visualizing the Video: AI-Powered Storyboarding

A script is great, but knowing exactly what to film is even better. Ask the AI to turn your script into a shot-by-shot storyboard. This removes the guesswork from filming and helps you create a more dynamic and visually interesting video.

A follow-up prompt could be:

Now, convert that script into a simple storyboard. For each line, describe the visual shot that should appear on screen. Be specific with camera angles like "close-up," "overhead shot," or "quick zoom."

Format it like this:
- **VOICEOVER:** "Your salads are boring because..."
- **VISUAL:** Wide shot of a person looking disappointed at a bland salad bowl.

This process gives you a complete filming plan before you ever pick up your camera, making content creation faster and more professional.

Generating Audio, Visuals, and Assets with AI

This is where AI goes from being a planner to an active creator. You can use various tools to generate visuals, voiceovers, and more, either to supplement your own footage or to create entire videos without ever going on camera.

AI Voiceovers and Avatars

Don't want to show your face or use your own voice? AI tools can handle it.

  • Text-to-Speech: Tools like ElevenLabs or Play.ht can create incredibly human-like voiceovers from your script. You can choose from dozens of voices and emotional tones. This is perfect for explainer videos, tutorials, or storytelling narratives where the focus is on the visuals.
  • AI Avatars: Services like Synthesia or HeyGen can generate a realistic avatar that will "speak" your script directly to the camera. This is becoming a popular option for corporate announcements, educational content, or any situation where a consistent "presenter" is needed without tying up a real person.

Making Video Editing Nearly Instantaneous

The editing process is often the most time-consuming part of creating TikTok content. AI-powered video editors are changing that by automating the most tedious tasks.

  • Auto-Captioning: Tools like Veed.io, Descript, or even TikTok's own editor can automatically transcribe your audio and generate animated captions. Since a huge portion of viewers watch without sound, this is an essential step that AI makes painless.
  • Repurposing from Long-Form Content: If you have a podcast or a YouTube video, tools like Opus Clip are game-changers. You can upload your long-form video, and the AI will analyze it to identify the most viral-worthy moments, automatically reframe them into vertical 9:16 clips, and add captions. It turns one piece of content into ten potential TikToks.

Optimizing Your TikTok for the Algorithm with AI

Your video is filmed and edited. The final step is to package it perfectly for the TikTok algorithm. A great video can get lost if it's not optimized with the right caption, hashtags, and keywords.

Writing Captions That Drive Engagement

A good TikTok caption does more than just describe the video - it sparks curiosity and encourages interaction. Your AI assistant can craft the perfect caption based on the content of your video.

Try this prompt:

I have a TikTok video showing 3 cleaning hacks for small kitchens. The hacks are:
1. Using vinegar to shine the sink.
2. Cleaning the microwave with a lemon.
3. Using a squeegee on countertops.

Write three different caption ideas for this video. They should be short, attention-grabbing, and ask a question to encourage comments. Also suggest 3 good SEO keywords to include naturally in the caption.

Generating a Smart Hashtag Strategy

Randomly throwing hashtags at your video is a recipe for low views. You need a mix of broad, niche-specific, and trending hashtags. AI can analyze your video's transcript and topic to give you a recommended mix.

Follow up with:

Based on the "kitchen cleaning hacks" video, generate a hashtag strategy. Provide 7 hashtags with a mix of:
- 2 broad tags (over 1 billion views)
- 3 niche-specific tags (under 100 million views)
- 2 highly specific tags (under 10 million views)
This will help my video reach both a wide audience and the right, targeted audience.

Final Thoughts

AI is a deeply powerful and practical collaborator in the creative process, helping you come up with better ideas, work through them faster, and optimize every video for performance. By integrating these strategies, you can spend less time guessing what might work and more time actually creating content that connects with your audience and grows your account.

Once your AI-powered videos are ready, juggling the posting schedule across TikTok, Reels, and Shorts can become another time-consuming task. At Postbase, we built our platform specifically for the modern, video-first creator. You can plan your entire content strategy on a visual calendar, upload your videos once to schedule them everywhere, and get straightforward analytics to track what's actually connecting. We designed it to help you spend more time creating and less time managing your apps.

Spencer's spent a decade building products at companies like Buffer, UserTesting, and Bump Health. He's spent years in the weeds of social media management—scheduling posts, analyzing performance, coordinating teams. At Postbase, he's building tools to automate the busywork so you can focus on creating great content.

Other posts you might like

How to Add Social Media Icons to an Email Signature

Enhance your email signature by adding social media icons. Discover step-by-step instructions to turn every email into a powerful marketing tool.

Read more

How to Add an Etsy Link to Pinterest

Learn how to add your Etsy link to Pinterest and drive traffic to your shop. Discover strategies to create converting pins and turn browsers into customers.

Read more

How to Grant Access to Facebook Business Manager

Grant access to your Facebook Business Manager securely. Follow our step-by-step guide to add users and assign permissions without sharing your password.

Read more

How to Record Audio for Instagram Reels

Record clear audio for Instagram Reels with this guide. Learn actionable steps to create professional-sounding audio, using just your phone or upgraded gear.

Read more

How to Add Translation in an Instagram Post

Add translations to Instagram posts and connect globally. Learn manual techniques and discover Instagram's automatic translation features in this guide.

Read more

How to Optimize Facebook for Business

Optimize your Facebook Business Page for growth and sales with strategic tweaks. Learn to engage your community, create captivating content, and refine strategies.

Read more

Stop wrestling with outdated social media tools

Wrestling with social media? It doesn’t have to be this hard. Plan your content, schedule posts, respond to comments, and analyze performance — all in one simple, easy-to-use tool.

Schedule your first post
The simplest way to manage your social media
Rating