The invention of cameras was mind-boggling for many folks, and more so when they started being able to fly and be easily controlled from the ground. Indeed, drones are in a league of their own regarding their unique perspective. Their impact led them to open a new branch in the creative and visual industry, aerial photography and videography.
Drones with cameras have come a long way ever since their invention by Abraham Karem (the founding father of UAV technology) in the 1970s. Now seeping into modern marketing strategies that want to reimagine how we see and sell things such as residential properties, beach resorts, new buildings, wedding videos, and more.
A New Perspective in Advertising
Before drones entered the world of advertising, visual marketing strategies were confined to perspective videos and still photos. Although such videos and pictures still work and continue to reach high levels of success in marketing, drones just offer a unique type of viewpoint that was once limited to helicopters or cranes. This means that drones can showcase products and locations in a more engaging visual way. While having a higher likelihood of catching a potential customer’s eye. And hey, that’s what advertising is all about.
Below are a handful of ways that drones are used in advertising. If you ever see your industry or practice down below, take the chance and check out the best and latest drones to start your newest advertising technique.
Live Streaming and Event Coverage
Drones have revolutionized the way we capture and share live events.
Drones as an Event Coverage Medium
When it comes to wedding photography and videography, visuals don’t have to just be from a ground view. With drones, wedding photographers and videographers alike can provide an aerial view of the venue. Which, besides capturing their customers’ weddings stunningly, it does well for their advertising.
Picture this: you’re tuning into your friend’s wedding video and the first shot is aerial footage of their wedding venue. This could be a wide view of a clear ocean with waves crashing on the sand, a mystical spot in a forest they chose, or the beautiful exterior of a church. You’re hooked, wanting to watch more, and just like that – you’re sold! Maybe then you’ll be on your way to buying your drone or want to venture into capturing events with drones.
Drones in Sports Photography and Videography
A big fan of symmetry? When the equation involves drones and sports, one of the first products is a symmetrical football field or tennis court. Besides a unique perspective, drones offer a better view of sports matches. An aerial view offers viewers a wider view of what’s going on. They’ll know which court the ball is in, and who has to respond, all by just flickering their eyes. As opposed to non-aerial close-ups where the audience is left in the dark about how the other sides of the field look at some point.
Drones in advertising for sports photography and videography work well, especially in cases where one might want to recruit new players to a swimming team. Show off a new tennis court that’s available for short-term rental, or just a promotional video for a sports team featuring the whole crowd and their loud cheers.
Drones for Capturing and Live Streaming Concerts
Get your adrenaline pumping even when you’re just sitting back and letting your drone fly over a concert’s crowd. Even when you’re just watching the LED screen on your drone’s remote controller, you feel the energy coursing through you. And what more for anybody else that’s watching? Of all the times that drones are used for promotional content for a certain artist or performer, they always do well in terms of engagement and general viewer satisfaction.
The target audience for concert livestreams and videos are fans who couldn’t make it to the venue or simply did not have the means. So when a live stream or video is broadcasted, people naturally flock to watch. This is a helpful tactic one can utilize in the world of advertising because a lot of people want to hear and watch as if they are a part of the crowd. With the way drones sweep up and down the venue, weaving through arms that are raised to enjoy the music or performance, viewers get to feel as if they are right there.
So, suppose you’re in a business catered towards creating promotional content for artists or just generally advertising for performers. In that case, a drone is one of the best ways to go about it.
If you’re thinking of going into sports advertising with a drone, it’s in your best interest to choose a drone that can keep up with the fast pace of athletes. The best drone for this genre is the DJI Mini 4 Pro Drone, a compact wonder with 360-degree obstacle avoidance and DJI’s latest image quality.
Drones Tap into Local Audiences
Location-based marketing is a niche that drones are now dominating. Being able to capture amusement parks, local businesses, and newly introduced residential buildings in a way that used to take intense CGI, heavy mechanical machines, or outright unsafe aerial photography methods. You might have seen aerial photography and videography be a hit in tourism campaigns, and it’s for a good reason. When people want to visit your area or when people want to know more about the city they reside in, it’s best to give them the bigger (or in this case, wider) picture of what they want to see.
Drones Can Boost Local Tourism
Take this picture of a small beach near La Peñita de Jaltemba in Nayarit, México, for example. This shot screams local tourism, promoting a beach that seems to not have been introduced to the public yet. The tourism department could advertise this beach more, in hopes of boosting local sales and the economy. And showcasing its beauty in an aerial perspective might be the most eye-catching way to go about it.
Cities or countries that are rich in bodies of water or even amusement parks and have hospitable locals or other nearby attractions to help back them up are leaning toward putting in a bigger budget for promotional videos. This is because it works!
Even popular theme parks like Disneyland and Universal Studios regularly invest in drone footage because of how quickly it can cover large areas in seconds! With a good drone marketing strategy, you can speed through and see one part of the park in one second, and then another in the next.
Hotels and travel sites are other frequent benefits of drones in their advertising campaigns.
When tourists are looking at where they’ll be staying for a vacation they’ve waited for for so long, they want to see if they’re going to get their money’s worth. In the picture above by Clayton Cardinalli, he shows off his drone shot captured by his DJI Mavic. Complete with a view of the beach, the pier, and look an outdoor pool!
Sustainability and Environmental Preservation Promotion
Like a lot of pressing issues on our planet, people need to see the bigger picture to fully comprehend what’s going on. Because of that, the environmentalist movement has taken a very intentional direction in aerial photography and videography when it comes to advertising their message to save the Earth.
Photographers, videographers, and advertising professionals can team up with environmental preservation figures and organizations to make a better future for our Earth. One of the best ways to deliver such a message or push for action is to capture important sites, such as forests in your area or the aftermath of a recent wildfire. In a more heart-wrenching effort to urge action among humans to save the Earth, nature photographers regularly take aerial photographs of the North where the ice continues to melt at a rapid pace.
Drone Advertising Cost: What You Need to Know
Great! You now have an idea of where you’ll be using a drone for advertising. But now, let’s talk money and fees.
- Hefty Price: The elephant in the room will now be addressed. It’s true, that drone technology is advanced and new. Meaning it’s still a pretty rare thing to get a hold of. Due to its rarity paired with high demand, drones cost a lot. But the biggest pro is that they always deliver in terms of quality.
- Pay Professionals What They’re Worth: Experienced drone pilots, especially ones with a lengthy background in cinematography or photography, typically charge a lot.
- You Might Need Permits: Yup, drones are not just allowed everywhere. You might need to secure permits from local authority figures before booking your tickets and just heading straight to your location. On top of local rules and regulations, you also need to learn about all the dos and don’ts when traveling with a drone.
Healthy Estimate for Drones in Advertising Projects
Let’s see some numbers.
| Basic projects that entail minimal editing from the individual or drone marketing companies you’ll be hiring. | $500 to $2,000 |
| Advanced/More complex projects for wedding or sports event coverage, with the intensity and scope of work potentially being very demanding. | $2,000 to $10,000 |
Drones as a Leading Advertising Tool
Capturing attention has been reimagined in the advertising world thanks to drones. With what they’ve brought to the table, who knows what new type of photography and videography will spawn within the next decade.
For now, it’s a great and unique tool to utilize, and it fits in a lot of industries and niches, so don’t miss it!
FAQs
1. Provide eye-catching content for your brand or cause.
2. Broaden your customer base and scope of reach.
3. Allow people to visually recognize the entirety of your area or infrastructure.
Besides the advertising side, drones also help businesses scope out anything that needs to be looked at e.g. sites for construction, areas inaccessible by foot, and even assess damage to their building after a tragedy.
Some crowd favorites are:
1. DJI Mavic 3 Pro with its adjustable aperture and 20MP stills + 5.1K videos.
2. DJI Air 3 is your portable drone best friend with a wide-angle camera and telephoto camera.
3. Autel Robotics EVO Lite+ assures you maximum creativity with long battery life and the ability to capture 20 MP stills and 6K videos in 30 frames per second.
1. The DJI Mini 3 Pro has a flight time of up to 34 minutes and is able to conduct obstacle sensing in three directions, perfect for navigating forests.
2. The DJI Avata FPV drone is as immersive as drones may come. It single-handedly is able to take the user through overgrown forests and rocky terrain in first-person view.
3. Parrot ANAFI USA Thermal Drone sets itself apart from the crowd with its rugged build and impressive zooming capabilities, making it ideal for drone photography and videography in situations where you can’t get too close to a subject.
