The cyclone funnel: Reality of subscriber journeys

For years, the traditional funnel that ruled the publishing and streaming industries' playbook has been attract, engage, convert, and finally retain. This linear model assumes that audiences move predictably through stages, culminating in long-term loyalty. However, this approach no longer aligns with actual subscriber behavior.

Subscribers today do not behave predictably. They come in hot and drop off fast. They can reappear after months or ignore your newsletters, then go through an entire archive. The modern subscriber does not “move through” a funnel. Instead, they swirl in and out of it, which is why more of these industries are adopting a different model entirely.

Forward-thinking media brands are adopting the cyclone funnel. Cyclone funnel is a strategy that prioritizes early conversion, closely followed by engagement and retention. This model acknowledges the non-linear, often chaotic nature of modern subscriber journeys and offers a more adaptable framework for growth, resulting in lower churn and increased lifetime value.

What is the Cyclone Funnel?

Traditional funnel logic assumes that users must be sufficiently warmed up before being asked to pay. The cyclone funnel flips this approach on its head. Instead of nurturing users slowly from awareness to retention, this approach starts with getting the user into a trial and learning from their behavior.

The core principle of the cyclone funnel is simple: Convert early -> Engage deeply -> Retain smartly

The cyclone funnel recognizes that you don’t have to choose between short-term growth and long-term engagement. The logic is simple: trial creates stakes. When you start with conversion, often via an intro offer or limited-time subscription, you create an opportunity to observe actual behavior. 

According to FTStrategies, top-performing publishing media companies have tightened their paywalls by introducing hybrid and dynamic models, which have resulted in a significant subscription rate. This has also given these companies the data on whether the users are reading core content, responding to emails, or skipping onboarding. This allows the retention phase to become an exercise in amplifying what works and removing what does not, with real-time responsiveness to user intent.

The cyclone funnel works in the current publishing media landscape because it adapts. It assumes users will not follow a fixed path and plans for movement in every direction, not just down.

Pricing and Conversion Tactics Within the Cyclone

One of the most overlooked levers in retention strategy is pricing. The cyclone funnel treats pricing as a behavioral test. Introductory offers are treated as a probe to help teams learn who engages, who converts, and who stays.

Acquire subscribers with one offer and retain with another. 

Consider a scenario in which a user might subscribe via a $2 trial for 30 days, then get segmented into different flows based on what they do next. Light users might get a paused subscription offer. Heavy users might get a premium tier upgrade.

This strategy is not about revenue maximization up front. It is about shaping demand. Subsets makes this possible by letting teams run pricing experiments without the help of engineering teams, observe retention curves, and automate upsell triggers that work.

As supported by BJ Fogg Behavior Model (FBM), this approach works because early commitment increases perceived value. People who pay, even a small amount, are more likely to stick around if they see ongoing relevance.

Implementing the Cyclone Funnel in Practice

For teams looking to modernize their approach to retention, here is what the cyclone funnel unlocks:

1. Start with behavior
2. Test every offer
3. Automate what works
4. Stop waiting for churn

The old funnel treated retention like a finish line, but the cyclone funnel sees it as a feedback loop. Adopting the Cyclone Funnel is not only changing your mindset but also executing targeted, scalable experiments that actually move retention metrics. At the heart of the cyclone funnel is speed, i.e., the ability to test, learn, and scale before the subscriber disengages. 

Several publishers and streaming media companies using Subsets have operationalized this approach by integrating early conversion offers with continuous engagement experiments and zero engineering involvement. Subsets enables teams to move from insight to action quickly by running multiple experiments simultaneously and measuring outcomes while scaling only what works. 

Conclusion 

Subscriber behavior today is fragmented and constantly in flux, which is why traditional funnels that are built on fixed touchpoints and static journeys cannot keep up. The cyclone funnel works because it is adaptive. It does not just anticipate churn but responds to real-time signals and reshapes the journey as subscribers move.

To make this possible, retention teams need more than dashboards. They need behavioral segmentation that adjusts dynamically, and automation that scales what works without any engineering bottlenecks. That is where Subsets comes in.

Subsets enables commercial teams to move from insight to action, without engineering support. Predictive audiences group subscribers based on actual behavior, after which experiments can be launched, and winning plays can be automated across the lifecycle to reduce churn and increase LTV. With Subsets, the cyclone funnel turns into a full-cycle retention engine built for how subscribers behave today.

Ready to see how a cyclone funnel with automated retention fits your strategy? Book a demo with our team.