Case Studies
“Follow the Sun”
“This campaign gave The San Diego Sun one of the biggest subscriber surges we’ve seen in years. It showed us that smart digital outreach doesn’t have to come with a huge budget.”
— Ron Donoho, Editor-in-Chief, The San Diego Sun
autogro partnered with The San Diego Sun and received an endorsement from Karl Strauss Brewing Company to launch a buzz-worthy summer campaign. Our objective: help The Sun grow its newsletter audience while boosting awareness for the new Karl Strauss lager called Follow the Sun.
🎯 Campaign Goals
Grow The San Diego Sun’s email subscriber base
Promote Karl Strauss' new beer called Follow the Sun lager.
Leverage local events and giveaways to maximize organic reach
- Social Media Videos and Static Posts: Created consistent, eye-catching visuals that reinforced the Follow the Sun message, drove newsletter sign-ups, and extended campaign reach through shareable, action-focused content
- Giveaways: Ran successful giveaways using Karl Strauss gift cards and Wonderfront Festival tickets to generate buzz and new leads.
- Landing Pages + Chatbots: Integrated a ManyChat funnel and optimized Google Forms to convert social traffic into email subscribers.
- SEO Support: Improved meta content, tags, and on-page keywords to make The Sun more discoverable during the campaign.
- Influencer Marketing: Engaged local micro-influencers organically to drive reach and engagement.
📈 Campaign Highlights
This brief but high-energy campaign created the largest spike in newsletter subscribers The San Diego Sun has seen in over three years. It also hyped Follow the Sun lager within the downtown San Diego community — all without spending a dollar on paid ads.
Best of all, it showed our client how bold creative strategy and focused execution can deliver meaningful, measurable results.
🧠 Services Provided by autogro
Campaign Strategy & Planning
Video Editing & Social Deployment
Graphic Design for Static Posts
ManyChat & Landing Page Funnels
SEO Optimization for Visibility
Influencer Marketing
Promo Poster Powered by AI + Human Expertise
We used AI to generate the foundation and then had it redesigned by a Canva expert on our autogro team. We collaborated with influencers to expand social reach and activated chatbots to boost newsletter signups and respond to audience engagement in real time—proving that smart automation paired with skilled execution drives real results.
Campaign Videos: Creativity, Consistency & Conversions
To support the Follow the Sun campaign, we produced three distinct social media videos—each tailored to engage, entertain, and convert. From animation to on-location storytelling, each video was crafted with platform-friendly runtimes, unified branding, and a clear call to action: sign up for The San Diego Sun’s free newsletter and enter to win a $25 Karl Strauss gift card.
All videos were supported by chatbot automation to capture leads and engage commenters in real time—combining creativity with smart strategy to drive measurable growth.