What is a segue? And how do you use it in copywriting?

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You’re trying to write some copy, but it’s feeling a little stagnant and boring. You think a story might help, but how do you link your story to the point of your message. Segue, my friend, segue!

What is a segue? And how do you use it in copywriting?

The obvious thing here is to make a joke about a segue in writing NOT being a stand-on motorised vehicle, oh wait, I just did.

Anyway.

In plain terms a segue, as quoted by Google is “an uninterrupted transition from one piece of music or film scene to another.” – obviously this is in music terms.

In writing it’s pretty much the same thing. It’s a writing device that seamlessly transitions one thought into another.

And this is where copywriters excel, because it’s all about connecting the dots and often finding a way to link unrelated subjects.

In visual terms a segue looks something like this.

That there, my friend, is a Venn diagram. They’re all the rage on social media. It’s where two things intersect. Your segue is the section of overlap in the middle.

An example:

How do you segue from the idea of eating a bagel into offering the perfect double purchase of your hand wash and cream?

Really? I hear you say. 

It’s possible, and it goes something like this.

Find the message that links the two.

The message in this example I’ll choose as “what goes good together” or the “perfect mix”.

Now you could say you ate a bagel with cream cheese and it tasted so great because they go so well together like your hand wash and hand cream.

That’s a perfectly reasonable segue.  But you can make it more interesting by drawing the reader in through a story. As they say, the devil is in the detail*.

* I’m not so sure it’s a devil, I’d say more of the “dollars” 💸… The Dollars are in the Detail™ – I think I need to trademark that!

So here’s something I prepared earlier (in another post).

“Today I bought a bagel. It was no ordinary bagel. It had a golden brown glaze, with poppy seeds encrusting the edges and as I bit into it, it oozed melted (vegan) edam cheese. 

The bagel was the best thing I’ve ever tasted. Like, better than the chocolate fondant fountain at my second-cousin-half-removed’s wedding, which was a complete disaster (the fountain not the wedding – although that remains to be seen since no one really likes her new husband). 

Imagine dark chocolate goo and beautiful ivory Duchess satin.... not a good mix.

But you know what is a good mix? 
Our Peppermint scented vegan hand wash and hand cream. They go together like Batman and Robin, like cheese and biscuits or like a Blankety-Blank cheque book and pen (you’ll know what I’m talking about if you’re from the UK and grew up in the 80’s – go on google it!). 

Anyway, our customers love this dynamic duo and it proves to be one of our bestsellers! Why not give it a try … [link to product page].”

The tale of two segues

Now, you may have not seen it in the example above, but this little story has two segues. From the bagels to the wedding dress and then to the pitch about the product.

Obviously the mid-story segue is a little more fluent, but both take the story through its chapters but the most important segue is linking the story to the product.  

This is the key to using stories in copywriting – connecting the point of the story to the message of the offer.

In fact, this is ultimately how marketers use a “big idea” in their campaign to sell a product. 

The “big idea” is the message of the campaign and a skilful segue can link the initial hook into the positioning of the product. 

This “big idea” is a foundational piece of marketing from “direct response” methods and if you want to know more on this subject you can learn more about a Hook vs. a Big Idea here.

You can go crazy with segues, if you’re creative enough to find the connection between two subjects. 

If you want to exercise your creative muscles, give “segue-ing” a go. Here’s a bit of fun… try to find a segue on any or all of the following examples and if you fancy sending your segues to me for review, then hop on over here and add them to the form on my contact page.

Story ideas:

Mowing the lawn

Haley’s comet

Olive the other reindeer (Google the story)

Products:

Rechargeable battery

Vegan energy bars

Bamboo phone case

Have fun with these, go wild and don’t hold back. It’s always easier to bring your copy back from the ledge (if you go too far) than to push it further in terms of creativity and boldness.

Enjoy segue-ing and remember to corner carefully, you don’t want to break an ankle! ;)