Aug 4th, 2025
This weeks newsletter includes
Tolan's TikTok strategy + Toolkit overview ✅
Full collection of all TikTok accounts promoting Tolan✅
Newsletter Campaign ✅
Strategy overview 📚
Tolan is an AI companion app featuring a virtual alien friend that remembers your problems, provides emotional support, and offers personalized advice. What's remarkable is that they've achieved 30K+ downloads in the last 30 days—achieved solely through authentic emotional storytelling on TikTok. Their strategy centers around loneliness prevention and mental health support demonstrations, resulting in their most popular video surpassing 69M+ views.
Core Strategy Elements:
Universal AI Companion - One AI for any topic or question, not niche-specific tool
Natural Integration - Users turn to AI organically within existing content habits
Vulnerability-First - Admit problems before showing AI solutions for emotional support
Here are some of their most successful videos and how they did it 👇:
🎬 Organic UGC - Cooking Helper
18.7M+ Views, 1.7M+Likes, 138.3K+Saves
Hook: "Jelly how do I make an acorn squash easier to cut"
Format: Talking video + demo
Why this video worked:
Contextually aligned setting – Filmed in a kitchen, matching the cooking theme and making the demo feel believable and relevant to the “cooktok” niche.
Clear utility – Shows the creator cooking while asking questions to the app, demonstrating a realistic and relatable use case.
Step-by-step educational format – Guides viewers through the process, clearly communicating the product’s value proposition.
Direct pain point targeting – Speaks to a common struggle for college students: cooking in a dorm.
Authentic filming style – Natural, low-production camera setup (just a phone propped up) makes it feel genuine and approachable.
🎬 "Me + My AI Therapist = Favorite Animal"
63.6M+ Views, 954.8K+ Likes, 87.9K Saves
Hook: "my favorite animal is me using my tolan as a therapist"
Format: Talking video + demo
Why this video worked:
Relatable hook taps into college life – Uses the classic “trauma dumping” theme centered around relationships in college.
Familiar everyday setting – Filmed during a normal morning routine, a scene most college students instantly recognize.
Controversial topic – Raises the question of trauma dumping to AI, sparking conversation in the comments.
🎬 "Pretty but Not Smart Physics Lesson"
6.1M+ Views,66.2K Likes, 12.2K Saves
Hook: "when you're pretty but certainly not smart"
Format: Talking video + demo
Why this video worked:
Self-roast hook stops scroll - "Pretty but not smart" = relatable vulnerability
Normalizes the use of AI - Uses AI to her advantage vs being embarrassed of it.
Educational + entertaining - Physics lesson feels fun, not boring
Organic product placement - Tolan appears naturally as study helper
Key Takeaways from this Content Strategy ⭐
"Jelly How Do I..." Tolan wins by Using hooks that feel like natural conversation with friends... these are conversations that feel like you'd naturally have with your friends.The creator says "Jelly how do I make an acorn squash easier to cut" with the same energy as texting a roommate for help. This friendly interaction style makes Tolan feel approachable for any random question, through genuine utility rather than tech demonstration.
Fresh and Easy to grasp UI Tolan's genius is making AI therapy feel as normal as having a pet. By comparing "using Tolan as a therapist" to a "favorite animal," they remove all clinical heaviness and reframe digital support as everyday comfort. The weird comparisons make intimidating concepts instantly relatable.
Self-Roast + AI = Permission Structure Tolan creators use hooks that touch on real feelings of college students. Students really struggle to learn certain material .This approach makes Tolan feel like a supportive friend rather than a replacement for human intelligence. Users aren't "cheating" or being lazy—they're being honest about needing help.
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