If I was a …
Fan of TikTok?
Scrolling through Instagram Reels?
Even if not, you most probably saw the latest TikTok trend showing up.
It is a new “If I was a …” trend that started out on Tiktok and is now making its way to Instagram Reels.
Not ringing any bells yet?
You know, that one where there are a lot of aesthetically pleasing photos describing people’s personalities. Individuals, couples, and groups, showing who they are or what they would be as color, brand, food, drink, fruit, animal, pattern, season, element, flower … synchronized to the song Run Boy Run by Woodkid.
The “If I was a …” TikTok trend lets you get creative, and showcase your identity. But the best part about this trend is that you can make your own twist to it and use it in various niches. Travel niche included.
There are various ways how you can do this trend. The easiest way will be with free Canva template you will find inside this post. Or, with video editors like Capcut or Inshot. And later inside TikTok or Instagram App. You will need 24 photos for a single category. And you can add up to 16 categories. So yes… the editing of this trending short video COULD BE very time-consuming, taking more than an hour (2 or 5) of your time.
But don’t worry! I am making this super easy for you.
Below, you will find a step-by-step guide on how to create “If I was a …” video with instructions, a free Canva template, and ideas on how you can use this trend for a travel niche.
Let’s go!
ALSO READ:
TRAVEL BLOGGER, INFLUENCER & CONTENT CREATOR | WHO IS WHO AND WHAT THEY DO
3 KEY PLATFORMS EVERY SUCCESSFUL TRAVEL CONTENT CREATOR NEEDS
Don’t have time to read now? Pin it for later!
1. Should I hop on a trend on TikTok or Instagram
Yes and no.
Using trends is a great way to help your account and profile get seen. Trends are also an opportunity to get your video in front of a wider audience. Your profile will get in front of more eyes for free. If you don’t count the time invested in making the video.
The key thing of using any trend is to use it but ‘make it your own’. Use the timing and songs but get creative, and make it work for you. For your brand. For your style. Be creative and think outside the box.
If the trend is set up in a way, you can ‘transform’ it, then use it. Like “If I was a …” trend that is extremely versatile and can be used in any niche. But if a trend doesn’t fit with you, pass it on and use the next one. If you are using social media in the hope of making money and building a business … you can still use trends. Just make sure to the ones that resonate with you the most.
Pin this for later!
2. If I was a … trend questions, categories, and ideas
TikTok and Instagram users have been doing all sorts of categories, answering various personal questions about how other people see them. You will find some of them below for showcasing your personality and some that you can use as a travel content creator or as a travel blogger. Use them as inspiration. You can always add more categories, swap them with fresh ideas or add new questions to your liking.
2. 1. What questions to ask for “If I was a … ” trend to show personality?
What categories should I use for “If I was a …” trend on TikTok and Instagram to show personality and examples?
If I was a…
Color
Food
Fruit
Drink
Cuisine
Animal
Weather
Season
Flower
Tree
Time of day
Disney Princess
Movie
City
Gemstone
Harry Potter
…
What color would I be?
What food would I be?
What fruit would I be?
What drink would I be?
What cuisine would I be?
What animal would I be?
What weather would I be?
What season would I be?
What flower would I be?
What tree would I be?
What time of day would I be?
Which Disney Princess would I be?
What movie would I be?
What city would I be?
What gemstone would I be?
Which Harry Potter character would I be?
…
Hot pink
French fries
Raspberry
Gin tonic
Mexican
Cockatoo
Sunny
Summer
Tulip
Bamboo
Sunrise
Moana
Legally Blonde
Sydney
Sapphire
Loona Liupka (Lovegood)
…
ALSO READ:
TRAVEL BLOGGER, INFLUENCER & CONTENT CREATOR | WHO IS WHO AND WHAT THEY DO
3 KEY PLATFORMS EVERY SUCCESSFUL TRAVEL CONTENT CREATOR NEEDS
2. 2. What questions to ask for “If I was a … ” trend for travel content?
What categories should I use for “If I was a …” trend on TikTok for travel content and examples?
- IDEA 1: Use it to showcase the countries you already visited
I have been to XY countries, here are my rankings;
Best landscape …
Best food …
Best wildlife …
Most affordable …
Best activities…
Most underrated …
Friendliest people …
Most beautiful beaches …
Best quality of living …
- IDEA 2: Make a slideshow of X must-visit countries
7 must-visit countries in 2023/summer/winter/spring …
Destination 1 … (Slovenia);
Destination 2 … (Aruba);
Destination 3 … (France);
Destination 4 … (Kenya);
Destination 5 … (Italy);
Destination 6 … (Mexico);
Destination 7 … (…) …
- IDEA 3: Showcase one 1 destination and the best features or must do’s of that destination
Things you will see when visiting (Slovenia) …
Feature 1 … (lakes);
Feature 2 … (waterfalls);
Feature 3 … (castles);
Feature 4 … (caves);
Feature 5 … (mountains);
Feature 6 … (…) …
NOTE:
For personality and travel Idea 1 use Canva TEMPLATE 1.
For travel Idea 2 and Idea 3 use Canva TEMPLATE 2.
3. How to make “If I was a …” trend
Before we start, I have to tell you that this trend is really time-consuming!
It looks so effortless and is visually pleasing, but it takes a lot of time. So preparation is the key!
The first step of making an “If I was a …” trend on TikTok is to prepare answers. Or countries. Or destinations. Or special highlights from your last trip. Do you have them all ready and set?
Good!
Now, the second step would be to prepare or find photos for each section.
Where do you get the photos?
If you have all of those photos yourself, on your camera roll, that is great. If not you can try Canva. We will be using Canva template to create this trend. You can also search for photos on Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay, Freepik, Freeimages, or any other similar platform. Then you will need to find and save 24 photos for EACH answer. Or 24 photos for each destination, or location highlight. That means 24 photos of mango, 24 photos of royal blue, 24 photos of Hermione, and 24 photos of Roses. For travel-related content, you will need 24 photos of Rome, 24 photos of beaches, 24 photos of waterfalls … You get the idea.
AND you will need one extra photo to start the whole video with!
So, more categories, more photos.
You can go all the way up to 16 categories.
The third step are apps. When in most cases you only need an App to recreate a trend, “If I was a …” trend is a bit different. Because it consists of so many photos, this trend is rather unique and needs to be created outside of Instagram or Tiktok. For this tutorial, you will need a free version of Canva. You can also use Inshot, CapCut or other video editing app.
Now, we have our categories/answers, corresponding photos, Canva account and video editing app!
So let’s make a video!
I know you will remember, but just in case, Pin those!
4. Step-by-step for “If I was a … “ trend and Canva template
PREPARATION PHASE:
If you followed the instructions in the previous chapter are already set up for success. Now you have your answers ready, your FIRST photo and corresponding photos for all your categories.
STEP 1: Download you Canva templates.
There are Part 1 and Part 2 in both categories. Use Part 1 first as is also consists the section for adding your FIRST on INTRO photo. It is then followed by one category or one set of 24 photos. Part 2 is one set or one category, that you will then add to part 1. You can add 15 more Part 2’s.
The difference in categories is that Personality one reveals the answer at the end, and the Travel one reveals the ‘answer’ at the beginning and is then followed by photos.
You can see the difference if you watch those two Reels.
- For Personality and Travel Idea 1 use those two Canva Templates.
- For Travel Idea 2 and Travel Idea 3 use those two Canva Templates.
STEP 2: Replace images.
Upload images to Canva or find it inside the app. Then replace the images in the template. Drag them to the frame and the photo should be replaced automatically. If not, Right click on a photo and select “Replace background”.
In Part 1 the first photo is the Intro.
Replace all 24 (+1) photos. All 24 of them. A bit less if you are using Travel template. 😉
STEP 3: Make the images count.
If you look closely, the sequence consists of multiple slides. The majority of it is 0.1 seconds long but a couple are 0.3 and 0.4 and 0.6. Those images are when the beat stops, so select the best ones for those slides. You can see the timing at the bottom of each slide.
In Personality Template, make the last two slides the same photo or color. In Travel one use the same image in clips 2 and 3.
For the adventurous and the ones with A LOT of time, here is the sequence if you want to do it in Inshot or CapCut;
PERSONALITY: Clip 1/Intro – 2.9s
Clips 2-15 – 0.1s
Clip 16 – 0.4s
Clips 17-25 – 0.1s
Clip 26 – 0.4s
Clip 27 – 0.6s
TRAVEL: Clip 1/Intro – 2.4s
Clip 2 – 0.4s
Clip 3 – 0.6s
Clips 4-12 – 0.1s
Clip 13 – 0.3s
Clips 14-23 – 0.1s
Clip 24 – 0.4s
Clip 25 – 0.6s
Pin those. You know, just in case!
STEP 4: Have fun, it will take a while.
I am not gonna lie.
This part is very time-consuming. But don’t give up. Do a few photos at a time. Maybe do one section and take a break! It will be worth it in the end. Whatever you do, DON’T forget to save your design. Canva automatically saves you progress but better to be safe than sorry.
STEP 5: Repeat the process with Part 2 template
Now that you know how this goes, repeat the process with Part 2 of the templates. The difference is that they do not have the Clip 1 or Intro clip added and that the sequence is slightly different to follow the beat.
You can duplicate Part 2 as many times as you wish to have more sections.
Don’t forget to save your design when you are done adding photos.
STEP 6: Download each section to your PHONE
We want to make this as easy as possible. So you are going to download videos to your phone and combine the video inside the Instagram app.
Ok, you could also do this inside Inshot or CapCut. That would mean extracting audio, combining video inside those video apps, a few other extra steps, and even more time. And even after that uploading it to Instagram.
You will do it in a faster and easier way.
- Open Canva App on your phone.
- Under Recent designs click on See all.
- Click on three dots (…) next to the video you would like to download.
- Select Download.
- Under File type select MP4 and under Select pages All pages.
- Press Download.
- Repeat for all of your videos/sections.
STEP 7: Combine video sections inside Instagram
Now open your Instagram account.
Your next step is to combine all the videos inside the Instagram app. First, search for audio Run Boy Run by Woodkit. You can do this by typing the title of the song in the Search bar or by saving audio from an existing Reel (Personality version or Travel version).
Start creating a Reel. You can do that by either clicking on ‘Use audio’ or selecting Audio it when inside Reels creation screen. Add all sections of the video, starting with Part 1. Then add all the other sections. PRO tip, when you added all reel parts, download/save the video to your camera roll.
Choose your cover photo, add caption, hashtags and location.
Post your Reel!
You made it!
BONUS: While it did take forever to make it, you now have a video that you can use on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest.
5. What comes after “If I was a …” trend
Trends come in circles. They come and they go and then they come back again.
“If I was a …” trend is great because it is extremely versatile and everyone can make it their own and adjust it to their own niche. You can answer the most popular categories, or let your creative juices flow and be as original with your content as possible.
But, with so much “If I was a … “ content already created, TikTok and Instagram users are now starting a new trend. Instead of making more “If I was …” videos, they are now reacting to these videos. They are filming themselves trying to guess the answer from selected photos before the answer even shows up.
So, even if you don’t want to jump on this trend bandwagon, you can make a reaction video and see how many guesses will be the right ones.
Don’t forget to share this with your friends!
I hope this article helped you to recreate “If I was a…” trend.
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Is there another trend you would like this tutorial for?
Let me know in the comments.
I love this trend I’ve been trying to figure out is there a way to do it! This is so helpful and so timely!!
Thank you so much! So happy you found it helpful!
This is so helpful! I’m not very savvy with TikTok, and the timing always seems to take me forever – so this breakdown is just what I need! Please keep sharing 🙂
It is such a time-consuming trend! It took me forever to figure it out, and and don’t want for all of us to loose precious time because of it
This sounds interesting & creative. Thanks for sharing your tips!
Thank you so much!