If you want to start making money with your drone, aerial advertising is a particularly lucrative industry you can get into. The best part about this kind of venture is that starting a drone advertising company is fairly straightforward. With a good drone, some kind of photo/video editing software, and the right contacts, you can easily start your drone advertising company.
Hotels, resorts, wedding/event venues, home building companies, and roofing companies are just a few of the many examples of potential clients for aerial advertising. Starting a drone advertising company is a great idea for a few reasons:
Drone marketing is still relatively new, so it's fairly easy to impress potential clients with your capabilities. This is especially true for clients that haven't ever used drone services to advertise.
Marketing is an important part of any business. This means that if you have the right clients, you'll have regular work. Partnering with the right clients means that your services will always be in demand.
Your advertising work for your clients will serve as advertising for your own business. As clients use your photos and video footage to advertise for their business, your awesome aerial work will also get exposure. In this sense, you're helping other companies advertise, but at the same time they're advertising for you.
We've created an in-depth guide that'll teach you all you need to know for creating a drone advertising business.
Part 107 Certification
Before you actually form your business and start getting clients, you'll have to become a certified commercial drone operator. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has a system in place for licensing drone pilots that want to use their drones to provide paid services.
Before you do any commercial work, make sure you've been issued the Part 107 certification. Click here to read our ultimate guide on the Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate process.
Get the Drone
Once you have your Part 107 license, the next step is to get the drone itself.
Given the rise in the popularity of drones over the last few years, there are a plethora of excellent options to choose from. Let's take a look at some of them.
DJI Phantom 4 Pro
DJI's Phantom line is their flagship drone line. The Phantom 4 Pro is the newest model in this particular series. Even though it's a few years old, it's still widely used by commercial drone pilots. It shoots video in 4K, which is very important for advertising. Additionally, the Phantom 4 Pro's 20-megapixel still photos are incredible.
The Phantom 4's camera is arguably the best on the market at its price point, which makes it an excellent option for a drone advertising business.
Check out the current price of the Phantom 4 Pro on DJI's website here, and on Amazon here.
DJI Mavic 2 Pro
The Mavic 2 Pro is DJI's premier portable option. This particular drone is fairly new, and its camera is also superb. The Mavic 2 Pro also shoots video in 4K and captures 20-megapixel stills. It's a versatile drone, which makes it a great choice for a drone advertising business.
The Mavic 2 Pro folds up into a fairly compact size, so it's very portable. There's so much technology packed into this relatively small piece of equipment.
You can check out the Mavic 2 Pro on DJI’s site here or on Amazon here.
DJI Inspire 2
The DJI Inspire 2 is a drone made for serious professionals and filmmakers. It has a much higher price tag than the others we've mentioned, but you get what you pay for.
This drone can be equipped with several different quality cameras. We wouldn't recommend the Inspire 2 as a starter drone for your business due to its price, size, and its steep learning curve, but if your business really starts to grow, you might consider adding it to your fleet eventually.
For more on the Inspire 2, go to DJI's website here or Amazon here.
Get Photo/Video Editing Software
When it comes to drone advertising, photo and video editing software is extremely important.
When it comes to drone advertising, photo and video editing software is extremely important.
With that said, don't feel like you have to buy the most expensive software on the market. The more simple, straightforward software is often more than sufficient for the majority of the advertising work you'll do.
The best way to determine what software to get is to consider the kind of advertising you'll be doing, how much you'll get paid for it, and how complicated the editing will be. Based on this information, you'll be able to decide what software is best for you.
When it comes to photo and video editing for clients that aren't overly picky, I have found that iMovie and the photo editor built into the Photos app on the Macbook Pro work just fine.
For non-Mac users, Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe Lightroom are great options.
I recommend reserving the higher caliber software for when you start doing higher-level work. When you do this work, focus on getting quality, cinematic shots, and don't overthink the editing. Most clients will think that some cinematic drone shots accompanied by good music is the coolest thing ever.
Register Your Business
The next step in the process is to register your business. If you don't have any employees, you'll want to register as a sole proprietor. This just means that you're the sole owner and operator of the business. This is the easiest and simplest way to start an official business. The best part about registering a sole proprietorship is that it's only about $20 (depending on what state you're in).
If your business grows and if you get employees, you'll have to register as a Limited Liability Company (LLC).
Having a registered business serves two main purposes — it gives you more professional credibility and it makes you eligible for a host of tax deductions. Take a look at this list of tax deductions you can get as a sole proprietor.
Industries and Places to Target
Now that we've covered the preliminary requirements to create a drone advertising company, let's talk about the different industries and places to target so you can get your drone advertising business up in the air.
Hotels and Resorts
In the aerial advertising industry, hotels and resorts are goldmines. They depend on good marketing that will entice people to stay there.
Drones are an incredible way to meet this need. Aerial photos and video footage are the best ways to capture everything a hotel or resort has to offer. Hotels and resorts are large, expansive buildings that simply can't be adequately captured from cameras on the ground. Good advertising for hotels and resorts captures the entire property from different angles, including from the air.
Drones enhance the appeal of hotels and resorts by showcasing the surrounding area. For example, if a hotel is a short walk from the beach, the best way to show this is through aerial photos or videos that can better convey the proximity of the property to the beach.
The best way to land gigs shooting promotional content for hotels and resorts is to get ahold of the hotel or resort manager. This individual will be able to contact their superiors who can decide if they want to use your services.
The best way to land gigs shooting promotional content for hotels and resorts is to get ahold of the hotel or resort manager.
Apartment Complexes
Apartment complexes can also benefit from drone advertising, especially with taller buildings.
Many nice, modern apartment complexes have pools and other outdoor amenities like dog parks and community courtyards. These amenities are highly influential when people are deciding what apartment complex to live in, and the best way to capture them is with drones.
The best way to get paid to shoot advertising content for apartment complexes is to contact representatives in the complex office. While they likely won't be able to make the decision about using your services to create promotional content, they can pass your information along to their superiors, or they might be able to contact the apartment owner directly about your services.
Wedding/Event Venues
Wedding/event venues have become extremely popular over the last few years. Venue owners depend on great visual marketing to appeal to people that need to host an event. These event venues are extremely expensive to reserve, so owners view great advertising as a worthwhile investment.
Drones are a great way to show potential event hosts what a venue has to offer. This is especially true for venues that are completely outdoors or partially outdoors. For example, the beauty of a wedding venue up on a hill with breathtaking landscape views simply can't be adequately showcased without aerial photos and video footage. Venue owners know this, so they're usually willing to invest in this kind of advertising.
Home Builders
Homebuilding companies create some amazing properties, and they can benefit from drone advertising in a few ways. Here are a few services to advertise to home builders:
Take progress photos. A great way for home builders to advertise is to include progress photos of their jobs, and drones are a necessity when it comes to capturing the best perspectives. This kind of advertising is good for home builders because it shows their prospective clients what to expect from the home building process. These photos also help showcase what the company is capable of by documenting the transition from a mere concrete foundation with a frame to a beautifully finished home.
Do a house fly through. Doing a fly-through of the finished house is a great way to use drones to help home builders advertise. Use caution when doing this with your drone, but if done well, it can add a unique and creative flair to a home builder's marketing. If you do this, I recommend using some prop guards.
The best way to get in touch with custom home building companies is to either call them directly or email them. This contact information will be available on their website or Facebook page.
Roofing Companies
Roofing is another great industry to target for drone advertising.
A roof is the product these companies sell, and they can best be showcased with drones. High-end roofing companies depend on good visual advertising to show potential clients the options they can choose from in terms of style, color, and material. From aerial photos to video compilations, drones can provide a much better perspective than a photographer on the ground or even on top of the roof itself.
Making a timelapse video of the roofing process is another service to offer roofing companies. Giving prospective clients an inside look at the quality and craftsmanship that goes into a particular company's roofing operation is a creative way to help these companies sell more roofs.
The best way to partner with roofing companies to do drone advertising is to contact them directly over the phone or by email. You should be able to find their contact information on their website or social media page.
Pricing Your Services
In the commercial drone world, pricing is somewhat of an awkward subject because there's no right or wrong way to structure your pricing.
In general, there are 2 schools of thought with regard to pricing. Some commercial drone pilots prefer to charge per hour, and others charge a flat rate for a particular deliverable.
Some commercial drone pilots prefer to charge per hour, and others charge a flat rate for a particular deliverable.
Charging Per Hour
A lot of drone pilots are staunch proponents of charging clients per hour of work involved in a project. Charging clients per hour is beneficial when a significant amount of planning, flight time, or editing is required.
This method ensures that pilots are adequately compensated for the time that goes into a project. When it comes to drone advertising, jobs can be drastically different.
However, charging clients per hour for drone advertising work might not be the best method. Personally, I have one big reservation when it comes to the prospect of charging clients per hour for this kind of work.
One compelling reason to avoid charging hourly if you don't have to is that clients might think that they're being taken advantage of. In most cases, clients aren't present on-site monitoring you when you shoot, so they have no way of knowing how long a project actually takes.
Additionally, editing is required after shooting, which takes up even more time. At the end of the day, clients don't know if the time a project actually took is different than the time they're billed for. I'm sure you'll conduct all your business honestly and with integrity, but charging clients this way has the potential to introduce doubt in their minds about how much they're paying.
In my view, it's better to avoid this possibility and do everything you can to gain confidence and trust from your client.
However, charging clients per hour is a good idea if you get so much business that your schedule is packed. In this situation, your time is particularly valuable, and you can better justify charging clients hourly.
Charging a Flat Rate for the Deliverable
The alternative to charging clients hourly is to charge for the actual deliverable they'll receive once it's all said and done. In other words, the client is billed for the photos and/or video videos that you create for them.
While factors like flight time, travel distance, and overall complexity can make the price vary from project to project, the drone service provider isn't charging the client per hour of work involved per se. In other words, if you choose to structure your pricing this way, still reserve the right to tweak those prices depending on the scale of the job.
The good thing about this pricing method is that both you and the client know what the job will cost right out of the gate. Because of this, clients will be really impressed if you spend a little more time on-site capturing footage to make the end product spectacular.
In short, charging clients for the actual deliverable will give them the assurance that you aren't taking a long time on site just to earn more money. They'll know that your primary goal is their satisfaction, and that's the main ingredient to create a long term client relationship.
You should strongly consider charging a flat rate, especially when just starting out.
You should strongly consider charging a flat rate, especially when just starting out.
Delivering the End Product
With drone advertising, your clients will end up with photos and/or video. There are multiple ways to deliver these products, but we'll go over some of the best methods.
Dropbox for Photos
Dropbox is an excellent platform for sharing photos with clients. It's simple and easy to use, and clients can easily access the content in a particular folder with a shareable link. From there they can download the photos to their device and use them however they'd like.
This is a great in-depth guide to using Dropbox.
Vimeo for Videos
Vimeo is a great way to share videos with clients. In many ways, it functions similarly to Dropbox. Vimeo is simply a platform that allows you to upload videos that can then be public, private, or shared with a private link.
Once you upload your video to Vimeo, make the video either available to the public or available with a shareable link. Send the link to your client, and they'll be able to open and download the video to their system.
Vimeo does limit your weekly uploads, so as your business grows, you'll likely need to upgrade your account to increase your weekly upload limit.
Challenges of Drone Advertising
While making a drone advertising company can be a profitable venture, there are some challenges that'll likely pop up along the way.
Conveying the Value of Drone Advertising
In my experience, conveying the value of drone advertising services to prospective clients is the biggest hurdle to overcome. Some businesses might not see the value of drone advertising. In other words, some business owners will think drone advertising won't have a notable impact on their success.
Some businesses are simply reluctant to embrace new forms of advertising. In their view, if their business is currently doing well, there's no need to invest in new, innovative marketing strategy.
What they don't realize is that, while business might be good now, neglecting to embrace newer forms of advertising might mean a loss of business in the future as competitors ramp up their advertising efforts. Businesses that don't adapt to contemporary advertising methods will fall by the wayside in the coming years.
For this reason, you probably won't hear back from a lot of the people you reach out to. Don't be discouraged and don't take this personal.
The good thing is that drone advertising is genuinely beneficial for many kinds of businesses. The challenge lies in convincing them of that.
One of the best ways to show prospective clients the value of your advertising services is to offer pro bono work to new prospective clients. For example, you can offer to shoot some advertising footage or take photos for a roofing company or home builder for free. Once they see how your work can really set them apart from the competition, they'll likely want to keep working with you.
Getting Long Term Clients
Another potential challenge you might face in the drone advertising industry is establishing long term client relationships. Getting clients you can do frequent work for is often better than landing a one time job because it provides more stability.
While one time jobs might pay particularly well, the lack of recurring work isn't particularly advantageous. I still recommend taking these jobs, but just understand that they'll function more as a portfolio builder.
Seek out long term clients as much as possible.
Finding Your Place Amongst the Competition
When it comes to drone advertising, some businesses seem to have a monopoly, especially around bigger cities. The high-end cinematography businesses that always come up at the top of the search results page seem to take all the lucrative business. These businesses do advertising for a lot of fancy resorts and other high profile establishments and companies.
Unfortunately, the fact that these businesses get most of the big business is just a hard truth, and it's better to acknowledge it and work around it rather than accept defeat. While these businesses might get the highest paying professional gigs, there are a plethora of smaller clients out there that will love the drone advertising services you can offer them, and they'll be willing to pay for it.
These big drone businesses likely aren't doing advertising work for the typical roofing company or home building company in town. This is likely due to the fact that their rates simply aren't affordable for smaller businesses, and the big drone advertising businesses probably think they're overqualified for that kind of work.
This means you have the perfect opportunity to approach these smaller businesses and offer them affordable advertising services. In my experience, a lot of these smaller businesses haven't ever used drone marketing, which means it'll be particularly easy to impress them.
Final Thoughts
Drone advertising is a great industry to get into. There is a growing need for unique and creative marketing, and this need is only going to grow as technology and forms of advertising get even better.
To be successful in the drone advertising industry, you'll have to be really good at conveying and demonstrating the value of your services to prospective clients. This is the biggest challenge you'll have to overcome, but once you do, you'll have a set of clients that love your work and want to use you regularly for their advertising needs.
We hope this guide was useful, now get out there and hustle!
