Drone Video Adds Another Level to Small Business Marketing

The use of video as part of a small business marketing strategy continues to grow by leaps and bounds. An astounding 54% of customers want to see more video content from businesses. Savvy small business marketers are working hard to meet that growing demand. More and more they’re finding that using drone video in small business marketing improves that new content.

With the increased video content available to consumers comes the challenge of how to make that video content engaging. A video isn’t worth much if a viewer doesn’t want to watch it. As a small business marketer your job is to tell the story of your business or your client’s business and spread their message. It doesn’t help tell that story or spread that message if the viewers click away early in the viewing. At least it doesn’t help much.

The latest trend to help with that viewer engagement is drone videography. Aerial footage is a powerful tool that businesses can use to help increase viewer engagement. Drone videography can add an elegance and bring a fresh perspective to video content.

Drone Technology

The days of needing to book time in a helicopter in order to get good aerial footage are long gone. Helicopters are fun. They’re also very expensive to operate.

Today’s drone technology offers videographers high quality and sophisticated platforms to capture aerial footage and create videos that are engaging. The technology is amazing, and the footage drones capture can be stunning.

Drones come in all shapes and sizes.

Drones used in commercial videography for small business marketing usually:

• Have four or more rotors that provide lift
• Weigh less than 55 pounds.
• Are flown by one Pilot in Command who also operates the video camera
• Have a camera that can record High Definition video for use in online marketing
• Transmits an aerial view in real time to the Pilot in Command while flying

Types of Businesses That Stand out From the Crowd by Using Drones

Any business can use drone aerial footage to help reach potential customers. The possibilities are almost endless and range from aerial footage of properties to highly choreographed sequences woven into a film narrative.

Some businesses particularly benefit from the unmanned aerial technology, including:

• Real estate agents
• Hotels and resorts
• Sporting venues such as golf courses
• Weddings and family events
• Residential and industrial contractors

In fact, real estate is the second largest industry in the United States that uses drone technology to reach potential clients. I’m sure you can understand why. Beautifully filmed aerial shots of a property adds that extra movement and punch that helps keep viewers engaged.

One thing to avoid is to seem like you’re doing drone marketing. You should have the aerial footage add to your video and to your messaging but not be about the aerial footage. You’ve probably seen drone videos that go on and on for minutes on end. The video usually gets boring pretty quickly. Instead, use the video footage to just add a little extra movement and perspective here and there. Focus on the story you’re telling in your video, and not on the techniques you used to tell your story. That way your audience will be more likely to engage longer with your content.

Certification Required for Commercial Drone Flying

Operating a drone for any type of commercial use in the United States requires certification by the FAA, the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA is the same agency that regulates the commercial airline industry. Any use in which you trade money, goods, or services in exchange for drone operation, is commercial use. That includes if you’re filming aerial footage yourself and using it in your marketing. For example, if you’re a real estate agent using a drone to help with property listings you will need FAA certification.

So for example if you operate a golf course and you trade some rounds of golf with someone who films drone footage, you are engaging in a commercial drone operation. In that case, the person needs to have FAA certification to operate the drone.

In addition to FAA certification for commercial drone operation within US airspace, insurance underwriters also require the FAA certification. Drone technology is very safe, however things can go wrong. Drones can weigh up to 55 pounds according to FAA regulations. Should something go wrong, an object of that size can cause serious property damage, personal injury, or even death. Obviously in such cases, the liability issues can be significant.

An FAA Part 107, Remote Pilot Small Unmanned Aircraft System, is the certification required for commercial drone operation in the United States.

Be sure the videographer you hire has this FAA certification. Or obtain one yourself if you’re going to be filming your own aerial footage for commercial use.

Keep Your Video Marketing Fresh

You probably know the statistic. Viewers click away from more than 80% of videos in less than 20 seconds. No matter how long the video is.

Technology keeps moving at a rapid pace. Customers and clients, or potential customers and clients, expect businesses to keep up with the changes in technology. That includes changes in content they consume.

To keep them engaged you need to keep your videos fresh. Aerial footage using drones can help you do that.
Used in the right way, drone videography adds that extra sparkle that viewers love.

Featured photo courtesy of Mitch Nielson.