Marketing Your Drone Business: Insights from Dominique Papa

Marketing Your Drone Business by Dominique Papa, Owner of Drone Over the Top, LLC, involves implementing effective drone marketing strategies to reach your target audience.

Life changes, careers evolve, and sometimes the skills you acquire along the way provide the foundation for a business you never anticipated building.

In this presentation, Dominique Papa shares her unconventional journey from studying marine biology and photography to working as a scuba diver and shark tour guide in Hawaii, ultimately leading her to discover drones and establish Drone Over the Top. Her story not only reflects her personal journey but also serves as the basis for her approach to marketing. Dominique emphasizes that the drone is merely a tool, not the essence of the business. Effective drone marketing strategies involve more than just promoting your drone or showcasing your camera's quality; it’s about marketing yourself, understanding the industry you wish to serve, addressing real problems, and giving people a compelling reason to remember you.

Dominique will explain how she carved out her niche by immersing herself in the industries she aspired to be part of, rather than passively waiting for customers to find her. Her foray into the amusement industry began at AIMS, where she recognized that she wasn’t just entering a drone industry; she was stepping into a safety industry. By engaging with inspectors, maintenance professionals, manufacturers, and safety experts, she gained insights into where drone technology could truly add value. Her contributions to developing ASTM F24 language for drones and ROVs within the amusement sector further solidified her credibility, aided in the safe adoption of the technology, and allowed her to grow her business from within the industry instead of merely attempting to sell to it.

Drawing from her own experiences, Dominique will discuss personal branding, networking, attending conferences, leveraging LinkedIn, following up, fostering genuine relationships, and being consistent in how you represent yourself and your company. At its core, Marketing Your Drone Business is about ensuring that people remember more than just your drone; it’s about making them remember you, what you stand for, the unique value you provide, and how you made them feel during your collaboration.

Dominique Papa is the visionary founder and owner of Drone Over the Top LLC, a woman-owned drone services company that excels in remote visual inspections, photogrammetry, 3D modeling, and high-resolution data collection for complex structures. Her diverse work spans industries including construction, commercial real estate, amusement parks, and infrastructure. Dominique is particularly focused on utilizing drone technology to streamline difficult-to-access inspections, enhancing safety and efficiency.

Dominique's journey into the drone industry was anything but conventional. She earned a biology degree with a concentration in marine science from Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire, complemented by a minor in photography. Her early career in Hawaii as a scuba diver and shark tour guide eventually led her to the world of drones, where her photography background flourished. After obtaining her FAA Part 107 certificate, she set the foundations for what would develop into Drone Over the Top. As her business grew, Dominique discovered that embracing change was essential; what began as a focus on photography and traditional drone services evolved into a company dedicated to remote visual inspection technology and addressing challenging access issues across various sectors.

This evolution also influenced Dominique's drone marketing strategies. Rather than concentrating solely on the drones, she emphasizes the human connection behind the technology, the problems being solved, and the relationships formed throughout her journey. She firmly believes that people engage in business with those they know, trust, and remember. Much of her success stems from networking, attending conferences, direct outreach, leveraging LinkedIn, forming partnerships, and actively participating in the industries she serves. Her collaboration with AIMS connected her to the safety aspects of the amusement industry, while her contributions to ASTM F24 related to drones and ROVs have enabled her to help shape the safe integration of emerging technologies into inspection practices.

Today, Dominique continues to expand Drone Over the Top, weaving together her expertise in science, photography, technology, marketing, and entrepreneurship. While her career path may differ from her original aspirations, it embodies a vital lesson: you don’t always need a clear destination. Recognizing opportunities, committing to lifelong learning, and ensuring that people remember you when you arrive are key.