When Amazon announced last year that it had developed the technology to make deliveries by drone, the social sphere began to buzz loudly about the potential of drones for business. For Amazon at least, there are still too many restrictions from the Federal Aviation Administration for it to use the drones commercially — but that hasn’t stopped some other brands from taking advantage of the unmanned aircraft from a content creation perspective.

These three brands are among those creatively using drones to bolster their content.

1. Captain Dave’s Whale Watching & Dolphin Safari

California-based ocean excursion and wildlife safari company Captain Dave’s Whale Watching & Dolphin Safari was already making a splash with its social media efforts. Then, owner Dave Anderson purchased two video camera-equipped drones to take out on the safaris and capture footage from the sky.

The resulting video footage is breathtaking and has amassed over eight million YouTube views since Anderson first posted it online. The online attention the drone footage has received underscores how important quality content can be to marketing. Eventually, Anderson wants to set up monitors on the excursion boats to allow travelers to get a real-time aerial view of the ocean life. 

2. Cannes Lion Festival

To help add to the comprehensive coverage of the 2014 Festival de Cannes, the committee set up video-equipped drones to catch the festival from above. A Twitter account with the handle @Dronie delivered a feed of “space selfies” or “drone selfies” of attendees.

A spot on the grounds was designated as the place to stand if attendees wanted the drones to photograph them. Vine videos of the drone selfies were then uploaded in a steady stream on the @Dronie account.  

3. Halstead Property

New England real estate firm Halstead Property has recognized the value in using drones for shooting footage of its luxury properties. Not only do the drones shoot aerial shots of the full lot from the sky, they can even be maneuvered indoors to highlight interior features like vaulted ceilings and extravagant open floor plans. 

Matthew Leone, Halstead’s director of web marketing, told the New York Times about the drone footage, saying, “We’re not selling $150,000 homes with this technology. Multimillion-dollar homes demand Madison Avenue marketing and advertising, not Main Street.” One video of a $7.6 million beach house is Rhode Island has been viewed well over 500,00 times.