How Do You Market Your Drone Business Locally?

[thecordman]

Hi,

How do you market your drone business locally?

 

[BigAl07]

You become a great cold call sales person and you don't get much sleep for a couple of years pounding pavement and shaking hands.

 

[TreeLineView]

BigA is absolutely right. You are marketing a product that people know little about. Open your eyes and look at what is going around in your community. You will need to educate your customer and sell them on how your product will benefit or compliment their business. Be ready to do a little pro bono work at the right time to get the most exposure. Contact the local Chamber or Commerce and find out about meetings for small businesses in our area . I also attend the local Town council meetings when I can. Good Luck and remember persistence pays off

 

[R.Perry]

I think I would first ask who is your target market, and what is the competition in your area doing?

 

[Russ Still]

All of the above. Well said, gents.

 

[BigAl07]

@thecordman I have a question for you: Have you made a detailed business plan yet?

The reason I ask is because a solid and detailed business plan will help you know the answer to this question and it will also include a LOT of the things others have mentioned in this thread. I good BP is worth it's weight in gold IMHO. I think any person who is even considering starting/operating a business should do that FIRST!! Without it you're flying blind.

 

[LUIS MARTINEZ]

Hi,

How do you market your drone business locally?

I began with a 333 in 2015...Didn't go in the black until 2017. It takes a lot of work and time.

 

[Ian Titchener]

We have been in profit from day 1. You have to offer clients value. And when I say value I dont mean something you add. Its something perceived. Perceived value is why people buy an iphone over an android handset 9/10. *Link removed by Moderator*

 

[Tennessee Drone Services]

I went the route of building off my established photography business and adding in aerial. I then realized that there's so much more potential to monetize aerial, so I expanded my offerings to the point where I couldn't keep up. I had to bring in other drone operators. The problem I've ran into is finding talented photographers/videographers who are licensed. I can usually find one or the other, but it is difficult to find both. My model is based on quality. There are drone operators out there that can put a drone in the air and press the shutter button from their phone. There are those that can put there drone into orbital mode and call that videography. What I need are quality operators that are first and foremost camera operators.

My prices are higher and my clientele understand that quality has a price. I advertise every so often when I think the ROI is right. I do often get white label calls asking us to do the work at a cost that undermines our market. I turn those down. There's several competitors in our market, and then there's others who bought a drone and think they're going to bankroll themselves to Beverly Hills. I've chosen a model that puts quality first and that goes hand-in-hand with satisfied clients. I've turned down a lot of jobs because I was unwilling to compromise on my pricing. When they see our work in magazines, used for ads, on the news, and to promote tourism... well, they can either afford it or they can't.

We all know that marketing is the hill upon which every business succeeds or fails. Figure out your business model. Know your strengths. Realize what your market can afford (not what they say they can afford), and work within that paradigm. If you fail to be honest in any of these, your business will fail. If you can only provide mediocre work, don't promote yourself as the best. Find a price point that works for you, work the market that accepts "good enough" and make your living. There's a place for that.

I hope you find this helpful as you work through your business model.

 

[Alicante Design]

I’m in Spain and getting ready to launch my drone business. Waiting on my operators registration from AESA to use drones commercially. The regulations are different in Spain and currently there are only 4,000 registered operators.

First identify potential customers. I need to create a portfolio of work to attract the customers I want. Adding photography back into my business as a service. It appears a hard sell to tell a real estate agent you only take outside drone shots.

My target customers are first real estate agents as a stepping stone to construction and architectural surveys. I see construction and architecture as repeat business. Building sites change weekly/monthly.

The plan is to use local facebook groups and web forums where the smaller estate agents promote their services. Offer a few shoots for free where I chose suitable properties, then use the work to open the door to larger estate agents. Same type of plan “The first ones free” until I build the portfolio I require. I have a digital window card for the larger estate agents with premium properties. An iPad presentation combining text, photos and video for a property. Building on my existing new media business.

I’ve joined the Alicante Chamber of Commerce where I have access to business through networking and breakfast meetings. The aim is to be seen out and about and be recognised as the drone guy. People buy from or recommend people they know.

I also go for a premium pricing policy based on quality. If you price low your business is heading for failure. About 1 year ago I spoke to a business owner doing photography and drone video. They priced low to enter the market. At that rate they required about 100 jobs per year just to make a living wage. when they failed to attract customers the price was halved. Now they required 200 customers to make a wage.

Get your calculator out and make changes to your business plan to suit the income you need. Make a marketing plan and work out costs for advertising and marketing. Work out who your intended customers are and how you can reach them.

 

[aerophotoshoot]

I'd highly recommend having facebook in the "arsenal" of your marketing efforts. Not so much in terms of the social aspect (e.g facebook page, groups etc) but facebook ads. You can be very very targeted with your ads and get a lot of exposure to the right people for very little cash. As long as you understand who your customers are then you can be very effective (E.g. real estate developers in Manchester). And, it doesn't need any software engineering knowledge to get started (but you do need to invest time to understand how to configure and use their advertising platform). All the best!

 

[TheEDCZone]

I currently use my Business cards and hand them out to anyone and everyone including our State Premiere, got some magnetic car signs late last week and so far will see how they will go, when I'm at a mission I will attach them to the table to advertise.

I also have my website that I am always tinkering with, I have other sites that also have my details and I have cards at my local coffee shop.

I am going to get some more branded clothing (uniform) like a couple of Black Polo Shirts, Hi Vis Polo Shirt and a Hi Vis button shirt.

So just chipping away at it here in Perth, Western Australia.

 

[thecordman]

Has anyone tried using business networks to get into specific sectors?

 

[thecordman]

Hi, does anyone use Google Alerts to notify them of specific news in your local area. You can use it to keep to monitor very specific information. For example, if a local newspaper publishes a story about a new housing area or solar panel farm being built in your area you can receive an automated email.