Video-based marketing campaigns have been forever changed with the introduction of drone footage. And it’s easy to see why. Outside of looking incredibly cool, aerial footage is a confirmation of quality, allowing brands to approach video content from a truly unique perspective.
Drone marketing — as some have started referring to it as — can be found just about everywhere, either to offer a unique visual, or to actually feature within the video in some way or another.
From Red Bull to Expedia, countless brands have utilized drone shots in the past.
And you can too with the right inspiration.
Before we begin breaking down some examples of drone footage, we should probably explain the overall benefits of shooting from the skies.
Why is Drone Footage Important?
Drones have only gotten better in time. Back in 2012, these unmanned copters took the world by storm, although they were on the expensive side.
Today, drones are a lot cheaper and have a lot more functionality on offer. Some can even livestream direct from the skies, they’re that powerful!
Easily the best thing about drones is how universal they are. It doesn’t matter if you’re capturing b-roll for a location tour, or capturing up-close footage from an event, these little copters are here to help.
Below you’ll find the reasons why drone footage is so important. Some are pretty self-explanatory (i.e. they gather great footage), whereas others are pretty eye-opening (i.e. aerial footage is a quality check).
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Aerial Footage Is Engaging
If there’s one thing we know about video content, being an agency with video as one of our primary services, it’s that audiences are almost always glued to their screens when they see impressive feats caught on film.
The natural reaction when seeing this type of content is to engage with it, either by giving it a like, or sharing the video on social media. This type of content goes a long way in accelerating word-of-mouth marketing too, let’s not forget that.
What’s more, drone footage increases your chances of going viral, like with the Bryant Lake Bowl video that we’ll be covering later in the post.
Drone Shots Provide Scope
Drone shots are in a completely different lane as far as video goes because of how dynamic they are.
In other words, aerial footage provides scope, giving the viewer a pretty good idea of just how important whatever you’re shooting is. Your building looks so different from the top down compared to ground-level.
Marketers Can Experiment More
Arguably the best thing about using drones to record video is just how freeing they are in terms of how you approach storyboarding and, ultimately, shooting.
Drones aren’t limited to the same physical restrictions found in other video types. They don’t need to sit on a tripod, or be held in someone’s hand to be controlled. No, drones can fly just about anywhere (just not too far as they do have range limitations).
Just look at the various motion shots you can pick up with these things.
Motion shots are exactly what they sound like. Shots that contextualise just how fast an object is moving. Sporting events give drones the perfect excuse to let loose, capturing footage that looks like something from a triple a video game!
In short, drone footage allows creativity to take flight.
Drone Footage Is A Quality Check
As mentioned at the top of the post, drone footage is a quality check that viewers use to determine how good your video is — and the quality of your brand by proxy.
And videos don’t need to rely on just drone footage to see it through to the very end. You can splice aerial footage in with your typical interview-style setup.
Cutting to these shots as they’re talking can make even the smallest businesses seem larger than life, which again goes back to what I was saying with scope.
That being said, the quality of your drone footage does matter. Just because you’re shooting from the sky doesn’t automatically make it appealing. Shaky shots due to high wind, for example, aren’t going to help engage your audiences in the way you want.
How to Use Drone Footage In Your Campaigns
There are various ways to implement aerial footage in your videos — which also applies to any corporate style videos produced too, by the way.
Do keep in mind that there are two ways to implement this type of footage into any marketing-based videos:
- Direct: As in you show the drone in action and make it a focal point of the video
- Subtle: Drone footage exists within the video but it’s never shown
The latter is definitely the more popular of the two, although you do see some marketing campaigns go out of its way to tell you there’s a drone involved. Hence the ‘drone marketing’ term.
We find that the subtle approach works better anyway. Highlighting the drone in front of camera might have worked well in the mid 2010s back when drones were just starting to grow in popularity.
But in the modern viewers eyes, it’s how you use the drone to capture incredible shots that truly matters.
Drones For Photography
One of the other popular uses of drones is to take high quality photographs. The kind that sit beautifully on certain pages of a website, or on video thumbnails.
The quality of the cameras found in drones rival those found in the cameras that sit at ground level. Some drones can shoot in 4k. Although, they can be pretty expensive — as is the case with most cameras capable of shooting in incredible resolutions.
Brands like GoPro and Patagonia make use of drone photography quite a lot to showcase its products throughout their digital advertising efforts. Patagonia, in particular, has put together some incredible campaigns in the past few years.
But yeah, you can totally use drone photography to market your products from a different perspective.
Every product marketing campaign will require images. So why not grab some aerial shots to really grab the attention of your audience.
It’s choices like this that put you ahead of the the competition.
Why you Shouldn’t Record Drone Footage Yourself
If there’s one thing that all of the above drone marketing videos have in common, it’s that they every brand featured had help from either an agency or from an influencer.
Very rarely will a brand or individual buy a drone and then begin picking up drone shots to use in various marketing media.
Sure, drones are quite inexpensive at this moment in time. But inexperience could cost your brand valuable time, not to mention, resources. And a poorly made video using drone footage could allow your competitors to move above you.
Drones might seem simple a lot simpler to record with, but there are a bunch of additional risk factors involved that you should know about first.
For example, under no circumstances, fly one of these things when it’s incredibly windy outside — or during bouts of wet weather. Filming during these conditions A) won’t produce high quality drone shots, and B) could damage the drone if it’s swept away by the elements.
The Best Examples of Drone Footage in Marketing Campaigns
Promo videos, location tours, and event videos. Is there any type of video content that couldn’t make use of drone footage?
Aerial footage has allowed brands and marketers to explore new possibilities — all to engage audiences and build on the quality of the brand, as mentioned.
Also, leveraging drones in your videos has a high chance of spreading the word naturally amongst your viewers/customers, which helps with word-of-mouth marketing. And word-of-mouth marketing goes hand-in-hand with viral marketing.
How you use drones will differ from brand to brand. Some will make drones the focal point of the video, whereas others use them to present unique b-roll. Coca Cola used drones to spread happiness, Expedia used drones to tour a major city, and Bryant Lake Bowl created something you can’t ignore.
While drones are incredibly accessible at the moment, shooting your own drone footage does come with its own set of challenges.
Which is why seeking the help of a highly-skilled drone agency like Canny is the play.
We’ve helped countless marketers capitalize on every benefit drone footage provides. Our work guarantees success in the areas that matter to you.
Get in touch to find out more, and let’s create highly engaging video content, together.
Drone Footage FAQs
What is drone marketing?
Drone marketing is the term given to certain campaigns that utilise drones in some way or another to record footage or take shots from above. Many brands are implementing drone marketing strategies these days, to provide a boost to their overall efforts.
How can drones help in marketing?
Drones help your video content standout a lot more compared to those not offering these types of shots. What’s more, having drone footage increases your chances of going viral, as proven by the examples shown above.
Where can I use drone footage?
You can use drone footage in all kinds of video content. In location tours you could use a drone to provide aerial shots of the building, or map the hallways of your place of work directly. Behind the scenes videos like this work really well in establishing brand trust.