THE FOLD

The whole concept of “the fold” in marketing is very dated, simply because it started with a medium and that has seen its revenues and relevance steadily decreasing since the early  newspapers. When newspapers were displayed at stands, they were often folded, with only the top half of the front page visible to potential customers. Hoping to draw their eyes and entice readers to pick up the paper, the editors would put the most important headlines, stories, and photos on this top half (or “above the fold” in the paper). Advertisers, in turn, would also seek to have their ads placed on this most coveted of spaces in order to reach the largest audience first.

The concern was that readers would spend the most time only looking at this top section above the fold. As they had to unfold the paper to read down further, their interest would wane, and advertisements would have less reach. Thus, the concept of above the fold marketing was born. This same concern with keeping the most important marketing content (aka the call to action) above the fold also permeated the web design world. “Scrolling” became a dirty word with web design company, and a horde of sites were designed with a prominent sales pitch as the first thing a visitor would see.