Using Social Media to Promote Aerial Photography
Since the beginning of the current wave of interest and innovation in commercial drones and unmanned aviation people have been using social media to promote aerial photography. It has always been the obvious way to show off your latest still images and video clips of a view that was previously denied to most of us.
However, if you’ve turned that hobby into a business then you’ll need to change your method if you’re to attract new clients. If you’re now running an aerial photography or inspection business then you’re probably short on time too.
If your work is going to represent your business then everything you upload to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram needs to be of sufficient quality to demonstrate your skills. It’s no longer enough to quickly share a shot with a fish-eye lens perspective, or a video clip that contains a clumsy take-off and landing.
You may spend several hours each week editing your material into the clips and images that your clients have requested, unless they do it themselves or you outsource the work, but whichever way your ongoing work becomes your ever expanding portfolio.
Aerial Photography Business Competitors
The latest list of CAA approved commercial Small Unmanned Aircraft (SUA) operators (September 16th 2016) shows a total of 2,173 individuals and companies who now hold a PfAW (Permission for Aerial Work). When I obtained mine in 2014 there were little more than a tenth of that figure, so it’s a tenfold increase in two years.
That’s a lot of competition. How are you making yourself heard?
If you’re already skilled at using social media to promote aerial photography, inspection, filming, or any other type of civilian or commercial unmanned aviation business then you’re probably aware of what helps and what hinders your marketing efforts.
However, I’ve been checking the SUA Operator list and many of these businesses are making scant use of social media. Worse, they have opened up accounts and left them unused.
If you create a Twitter account or Facebook page and don’t use it while still advising website visitors to contact you using one of these methods, then you could be actually hindering your marketing efforts.
All your social media accounts need feeding with new material. They also need to be monitored for responses from followers. Social media marketing is not about broadcasting your latest footage. It’s about building relationships with people who may later become clients.
Have you got time to do this? Do you know enough about social media marketing to make the most efficient of the time you spend on it?
If you’re in any doubt or if you just want to talk about the possibilities for your unmanned aviation business then get in touch. Hiring someone like me who understands unmanned aviation and social media marketing may be the lift that your business needs.
Send me a message now or get in touch on Twitter. I’ll give you a free 15 minute consultation explaining how I can help your business grow.
