Today’s social media marketers know that visual-based content reigns supreme.
Visual-based content includes assets like photographs, infographics, animations, and, most popularly, videos.
Audiences favor this style of content for several reasons. It’s easy to consume, delivers immediate value, and entertains viewers more comprehensively than words alone.
Given the significance of visual-based marketing in our current landscape, content creators need to get their hands on tools and software to put their content on the big (or small) screen.
Sure, you can use a phone—but have you ever considered a drone?
Today, we’ll discuss how social media marketers can use drones to help their visual content take flight.
Are Visuals That Important?
Many marketers employ a mix of visual-based assets to make their content more useful and engaging.
And they’re definitely onto something.
The brain can identify images in as little as 13 milliseconds, meaning that someone merely has to glance at your visual content, and their brain can register what they saw and even remember it well after they finish scrolling.
And if we zoom out and take a broader look at social media trends, we’ll see a shift in the amount and performance of visual-based content, which makes sense.
In fact, over half of marketers report that 91-100% of their content contains visuals.
Of the many types of visual content, videos are having a moment.
92% of video marketers reported high ROI—boosting leads, sales, and customer understanding— from their video efforts. And most videos created (71%) had a common destination: social media.
Social media platforms have increasingly become more visual-first. Think Instagram reels, carousels, the rise of TikTok, and YouTube videos.
And the content with the highest engagement on those platforms? Visuals.
The bottom line?
Your audience is interested in visual content. And as a marketer, you need to create high-quality visuals for them to engage with.
That’s where drones can come in.
Drones—A Marketer’s Dream Visual Aid
Drone photographs and footage give your brand a unique opportunity to capture a different perspective.
Imagine you’re a real estate agent and want your listings to stand out from the crowd. High-quality drone shots can give potential buyers a more comprehensive property experience. Populating your social media with these visuals could attract more attention in the long run.
There are several other ways drones can enhance your social media presence:
- Convert aerial-style photographs into LinkedIn or Instagram carousels
- Use drone footage to create a short video for Reels, TikTok, or Youtube
- Research drone-related hashtags and jump on a trend to increase your reach
- Get creative with your images by turning shots into custom memes or GIFs that speak directly to your audience’s pain points in a lighthearted, humorous way.
Drone Content Can Shape the Future of Social Media Marketing
To keep your head in the clouds, consider that you own a travel agency. Your sole mission is to sell more vacation packages to various destinations worldwide.
You can continue with your snapshots of hotel rooms and street-level photos of nearby restaurants, shops, and nightlife.
Or you can use aerial drone photography to take pictures or even record videos that capture the entire essence of the area.
With this content, you can showcase these astonishing photos of gorgeous daytime and nighttime visuals right on your social media page. There’s nothing like eye candy to get people to click on a link and potentially book a visit!
But that’s just a concept. Now, let’s talk numbers.
People are purchasing drones in droves. In fact, the drone market is anticipated to balloon to $63.3 billion by 2025, and predictions assume global shipments will reach 2.4 million in 2023.
And several big brands are taking advantage of drone content to produce incredible visuals:
- RedBull’s successful video The Ridge has over 80 million views on YouTube and leveraged drones to capture the hard-to-reach shots
- Coca-Cola’s Happiness from the Skies Campaign used drones to deliver Coke to several workers in Singapore to show appreciation for their often overlooked efforts
And many others.
Brands big and small are using drones to enhance their content.
We’re likely getting to the point where social media marketers and influencers will have to jump aboard the drone bandwagon to keep up!
Enhancing the Online Video Experience with Drones
As we discussed, video is quickly gaining popularity across social platforms.
In 2023, video content is expected to account for 82.5% of all web traffic. So, if your brand isn’t creating videos, you’re missing out on important opportunities to attract your audience.
But due to the saturated market, simply publishing videos likely won’t get you the traffic you’re after.
Drone videos can help you stand out and outpace the competition.
If you’re interested in getting a birdseye view of your competitors’ top-performing social media content, check out the Social Tracker from Semrush Social. With it, you can compare your key metrics like audience, posting activity, and overall engagement against your top competitors for Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X, and Pinterest.
Already, 96% of marketers plan to maintain or increase their video marketing budgets this year, suggesting that our feeds will be even more inundated with videos soon.
How Drones Can Impact Different Industries
Social media marketing is ripe with innovation. New brands form meaningful connections with audiences every day by creating unique and engaging content.
Drones are just another tool social media managers can use to attract their ideal viewers.
And several industries can take advantage of their influence.
Here’s a snapshot of how different industries can use drones in their social media:
- Filmmakers: Drone cinematography is already booming. This has opened the gates for directors with smaller budgets to offer the same appeal of aerial footage as big-budget films. It can also be used for making awesome commercials and trailers to post on social media.
- Real estate agents: Selling properties is all about selling the concept of home and community. Since most people use social media and search engines to find their next home, offering home buyers aerial visuals of properties and the surrounding communities makes a lot of sense. It allows them to travel to the location wherever they are.
- Online marketers and agencies: Drone video has the potential to boost traffic for businesses. The potential is there if people can create amazing drone content and optimize it for search engines.
- Consumer market: People enjoy engaging with social media, videos, and photographs. With drones, people take spectacular selfies and capture videos of themselves climbing mountains, swimming in oceans, and doing almost everything imaginable.
The popularity of aerial footage bridges the gap for YouTubers and brands to get in on the action. Now is a great time to consider creating YouTube channels to showcase aerial drone videos and even monetize them.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. As more brands harness the potential of drones, we’ll likely see more aerial photography and footage posted online.
Drones Will Take Social Media To New Heights
Drone videos are taking marketing to new dimensions. And social media is a great way to showcase these videos and images.
Whether you’re creating a compelling video for your homepage, jumping on a popular trend, or shocking your audience with breathtaking views, there’s a way for you to embrace the power of drones.
In a never-ending social media feed, marketers need to get creative to stand out and attract attention from their ideal audience.
If you’re thinking about a way to increase the performance of your visual content, just look up.
You can streamline your social media management with Semrush Social—a set of tools that helps you manage your owned profiles (post, schedule, and track performance), spy on competitors, and enhance community management.