The handbook
How to get hired in trend research and social listening, chapter by chapter
By Influish Editorial Team · Published · Last updated
Short answer
On 4 November 2026 Influish, a company that news reports describe as based in Udaipur, Rajasthan, posted an Instagram video seeking a paid “doomscroller” to watch Reels and report trends; reports said people could comment on the video or use a form linked from the company’s Instagram bio, while pay and deadlines were not disclosed (India Today). The story put a spotlight on an old question: can noticing what spreads on social media be a career? People searching for an answer mostly found job listings with no explanation, or guides written for other countries. This handbook is the missing middle: practical, India-specific, and honest about how competitive these roles are.
It is written as a sequence. Chapter 1 sets out the route into trend research. Chapter 2 covers the more data-heavy cousin, social listening. Chapters 3 to 5 are the toolkit: the skills you need and how to rate yourself, the portfolio projects that prove those skills, and the interview, including a take-home exercise you can practise. Chapter 6 covers where these jobs are actually advertised.
If you are still deciding which kind of social media job suits you, start with our sister site, which describes each role in breadth; for the job description of this specific role, see its Reel trend researcher profile (our sister guide, Instagram Job Guide). This handbook assumes you have chosen, and want to know how to get hired.
Contents
How should I use this handbook?
- Read Chapter 1 end to end. It is the spine of everything else.
- Rate yourself with the skills rubric and note your two weakest areas.
- Pick one portfolio brief that exercises those weak areas and finish it.
- Rehearse with the question bank, then do the timed take-home exercise.
- Search and apply using the terms in Chapter 6.
Trend researcher or social listening analyst: which should I aim for?
| Social media trend researcher | Social listening analyst | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts from | The feed: what keeps appearing across accounts | A question: what are people saying about X? |
| Main output | Dated trend log, weekly brief, quick alerts | Queries, dashboards, sentiment and theme reports |
| Core skill | Lifecycle judgement and short, clear writing | Boolean query design and data cleaning |
| Typical employers | Creator and social agencies, publishers, creator-tech startups | Listening and insights firms, PR agencies, large brands |
| Start with | Chapter 1: how to become a trend researcher | Chapter 2: social listening analyst career guide |
The skills overlap heavily, so many people practise both. The trend researcher skills rubric covers the shared ground, and the portfolio chapter includes one project for each role.
Questions about trend research careers
What is the difference between a trend researcher and a social listening analyst?
A social media trend researcher watches feeds such as Instagram Reels to spot rising formats, sounds and topics early, and reports them in short written briefs. A social listening analyst writes keyword and Boolean queries in listening tools to measure what people say about a brand or issue, including volume and sentiment, and reports with data.
Can I become a trend researcher in India without a degree?
Sometimes. Smaller agencies, creator studios and startups often judge trend research applicants mainly on a dated trend log and written briefs. Larger companies, listening firms and government contract roles more often list graduation as a minimum requirement, so check each posting before applying.
Does this handbook list jobs or salaries?
No. The Social Media Careers handbook explains how to prepare for and find trend research and social listening roles in India. It does not list vacancies and does not publish pay figures, because pay depends on employer, city and experience and we only publish numbers we can source.
What will this handbook not do?
It will not promise you a job, invent salary figures or list vacancies. Pay for these roles is not covered here at all. Where we cite a fact, it is linked to a source we checked, with the date. Read more about who publishes the handbook and how it is written.