Top 3 Drone Jobs & Deliverables

Drone pilots are being hired to perform 3 drone deliverables for many different drone jobs.  After reviewing our survey results, the trends are clear. The top 3 drone jobs are basic photography, smooth videography and orthomosaic drone mapping.

The Top 3 drone jobs have become very clear.  After surveying our list of drone pilots and receiving thousands of responses, the trends of drone jobs and deliverables are clear.  In fact the opportunities are also abundant, as these same deliverables are used across various private and public industries. These three drone jobs and deliverables were apparent across numerous verticals.

From construction to real estate and even inspections, the deliverables remain constant across all of the verticals of drone jobs. So what are the top 3 drone jobs and deliverables?

1. Basic Photography
2. Smooth & Consistent Aerial Videography
3. Orthomosaic Mapping

Good news for drone pilots as key services can transfer from sector to sector.  Allowing for massive opportunity for many drone operators and even businesses looking to augment their existing services with drones. The top 3 drone jobs really serve numerous industries even across public safety.

Even our enterprise clients are all asking for the same training.  They want to teach their drone pilots the same top 3 drone jobs as we mentioned above.   As our trainings accelerate into the end of the year, we continued to hear repeated requests to train pilots in a similar manner. They want their pilots to be taught Orthomosaic drone mapping.  Not to even measure sites, but to document sites in a clear way that communicates easily with team members.  Yet the majority of training requests seek to be a taught a more affordable means of drone mapping.   (Don’t forget Drone U’s Mapping Class teaches how to use Pix4D React.)

Drone Pilot Job Verification

During the summer of 2020, we ran a survey across our list of drone pilots.  Seeking to understand the state of the industry in near real time. The top 3 drone jobs and deliverables remained constant between drone service providers and enterprise clients.

The trends from our enterprise  clients are validated by the data from our drone service providers.  Drone pilots voted overwhelmingly that the number one deliverable is creative photography… across numerous industries.  Number two drone jobbing deliverable was actually orthomosaic mapping, but many were using Drone Deploy over Pix4D Mapper.

When we surveyed pilots we attempted to seek clarification on the top 3 drone jobs and deliverables being offered to drone pilots.  With so many companies forced to create online sales systems and funnels… a majority of drone pilots are being hired for creative production for small businesses.

Albeit, a few trends emerged in the data that made us look twice….  A vast majority of drone pilots differentiated between drone video from smooth drone video. Reading between the lines, we think drone pilots only continue to get hired if they can fly smoothly and capture great video.

(Drone U Members: Don’t forget the “Advanced Aerial Videography Class,” produced in Mexico to master smooth motion and provide examples of video motions.)

Micro Drones = More Drone Jobs

With the emergence of the Mini 2 drone from DJI, the world of drone pilot jobs will open up substantially.  The Mini 2 drone is a powerhouse commercial drone packed in 249gram package. Imagine the ability of a Mavic Pro, but only 249 grams. Which means flying in countries like Canada is a lot easier as an American.

While drone pilots may read this and hear “more drone pilot competition,” we would argue the contrary. More opportunity because the barrier to entry is lower.  Yes more people will become drone pilots, but also with cheaper equipment, more companies will explore and discover.  Most companies explore drone operations with a familiar face, a friend or company employee. Once a company realizes the liability and complexity of building a drone program, they tend to hire a professional drone service provider.  While existing drone pilots may be fearful of the oncoming wave of new drone pilots, remember stick to your guns specialize and focus on the clients you want to keep. Build relationships, not lists of wrong doings by your competitors.

While Micro drones will cause more companies to explore using drones as a tool, they will not be replacing other mapping drones.  If a drone pilot is being asked to perform an Orthomosaic, they can perform the task in 1/3 the time as any Mavic drone.  Simply because of the camera shutter. This one particular nuance can make a huge difference in scalability of a drone mapping team.