Top 7 Tips Drone Pilots Can Use to Grow on Social Media

This guest post is written by our friends from The Drones World.

The world of drones is a very exciting one and developing by the day. The modern trends are changing the future of drones and presenting new opportunities. We see that more and more drones find their place in a variety of industries like agriculture, search and rescue, surveillance, marketing, entertainment, delivery and logistics, and more.

This means that it may be tough for drone pilots and drone businesses to break through. A growing industry translates to more drone professionals and that, in turn, means more competition. Thanks to the power of social media, drone operators now have a better chance to present themselves, their skills, and portfolio, and thus gain new supporters and ultimately clients.

Here are some top tips for boosting your social media presence and making sure more people notice you and your work.

Build a Community

The truth is that the power of social media lies in interacting and engaging with people who belong in the same industry. Regardless of whether we are talking about Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or TikTok, you should build your community of online friends and supporters.

Leave comments on people whose work you like, write them a message, and ask them about their experiences and journey. A large portion of them would jump at the opportunity to make a new acquaintance.

How can you do that? Building a community around yourself can mean joining a Facebook group in your niche or region. For example, if you’re a drone pilot living in San Francisco who likes FPV, a good idea would be to look for Facebook groups with keywords like ‘drone pilots california’ or ‘fpv pilots’. As a pretty visual platform, Instagram is also encouraging more interaction. So, make sure you find people and organizations who have something to say and have a great reputation in the industry and start the discussion.

Keep on supporting each other through liking, commenting, and sharing. This will also significantly boost the reach of your posts. A pro tip - a daily engagement with your target audience can take 2-3 hours.

Interact with Feature Accounts and Collaborate

Speaking of interaction, getting in touch with so-called feature accounts can help you grow organically. For those who aren’t familiar with the term, these accounts are usually found on Instagram, but they have easily spread to platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok.

What makes them so special? These accounts repost amazing work from other creators and not their own. So, if they feature some of your drone photos and videos with credits, chances are high that more people (their followers) will flood your profile and increase your visibility.

Starting from the obvious, the biggest feature account in the world of drones is DJI’s official account (@djiglobal). Then, others include Drone Pals, Drone Globe, Drone Emperors, The Drones World, Drone Virus, and more.

You can tag them, use their hashtags, and be innovative in the way to get their attention. Sometimes, an honest DM can do the work and initiate collaboration.

Follow the Trends

New features are constantly added to social media platforms and the all-mighty algorithm is known to work in mysterious ways. However, platforms tend to “reward” drone creators who use their latest features and trends. For instance, for Instagram, it’s a great idea to post 7-14 times per week, do more collaboration posts with fellow drone pilots or drone communities, post Reels frequently, and optimize your description for keywords. Also, you can experiment with different types of posts like carousel posts (consisting of 2 or more drone photos/videos), single posts, Stories, Reels, and similar.

A recent trend in social media is TikTok and the massive use of vertical videos. Even social networks like BeReal have recently turned the world of social media on its head.

Research All the Time

Closely related to the previous tip, you can check out the latest posts of the competition or other drone pilots you look up to or know. That way, you can see what works and what doesn’t and also be inspired by various types of posts. For example, as a drone pilot, you can share some tips you’ve learned along the way with your followers, show a day when you are droning on your Stories, mark important international days with thematic drone shots, and similar.

Hashtags Aren’t Dead (Yet)

Sometimes it may seem like the days of the hashtags are numbered. Those # signs that act as ‘online folders’, compiling every profile’s post containing it in one place have become ubiquitous across various social platforms.

As a drone pilot, you can test some popular and less popular hashtags to grow. A combination of both can be a great place to start.

Frequently, drone pilots and businesses use some of the following hashtags: #dronegram, #dronestagram, #fromwhereidrone, #dronedaily, #dronephotographypros, #droneoftheday, #dronephotooftheday, #droningnation, #womenwhodrone, #dronepixel, #dronelove, #dronefan, etc. Just watch out for the limit and/or the moment you become too spammy.

Use Tools

Always be on the lookout for helpful tools, which can make your social media experience easier and posting faster.

Preferably your drone shots and videos should be edited and enhanced. Numerous free (or low-priced options) can be found online, including user-friendly apps. Adobe - a premium software company that offers innovative products like Lightroom and Photoshop, which drone pilots can use to edit their drone photography is an alternative, too.

Another extremely helpful tool for designing posts for social media is Canva. If you don’t want to spend hours mastering Photoshop and need some quick yet professional graphics, it can become your go-to tool.

Be Consistent

As we mentioned before, posting regularly will do wonders for your socials as this means your followers and people who have liked your pages are constantly engaged with your content. Yes, it can be challenging to find new drone content to post all the time, but try to have at least 7-10 posts weekly.

Summing Up the Key Tips

In a nutshell, these tips can help you grow on your social media as a drone content creator and can hopefully land you more clients:

Build a community of supporters and friends online and use these relationships to mutually grow together.
Engage and collaborate with so-called feature accounts - social media profiles that repost other creators’ posts. As a drone pilot, you can capitalize on their great outreach and increase your visibility.
Be up-to-date with all the latest trends. Keep your eyes open for new features of social platforms where you already have an account as well as new platforms.
Research for more content ideas and topics all the time. The drone industry is vast, so you can find your niche and explore.
Include relevant hashtags in your posts appropriately and wisely.
Use tools to help you post easily and swiftly.
Post regularly or at least 7-10 times per week.

In the end, it’s important not to focus on perfection, but on perfAction. Start posting, experiment, and let the world see your drone content!