How to Add a Border to Constant Contact Campaign Emails

Your email campaigns can live or die on first impressions. With over 376 billion emails sent daily and an average open rate of just 43.46%, the window to grab attention is razor-thin. A clean, well-structured design — including something as simple as a border — can be the difference between a reader engaging or scrolling past.

Borders give your Constant Contact emails a polished, professional frame. They separate your content from the inbox background, reinforce brand identity, and guide the reader’s eye through your message. If you’ve been looking at your campaigns and feeling like something is visually off, a border might be exactly what’s missing.

This guide walks you through every method available inside Constant Contact to add borders — from the full template border to block-level borders and custom HTML styling.

Why Email Design Matters More Than You Think

Before jumping into the steps, it’s worth understanding why design tweaks like borders have real business impact.

Email marketing delivers an average ROI of $42 for every $1 spent — but that return depends heavily on whether people actually engage with your content once they open it. With 41% of email views coming from mobile devices, visual clarity becomes even more critical. A well-defined border creates structure that works across screen sizes, preventing your content from looking cluttered or undefined on smaller displays.

Personalized, well-designed emails also show measurably better results: personalized campaigns achieve open rates of 44.30% compared to 39.13% for generic sends. Design is part of that personalization signal — it tells your reader that care went into this message.

When your email looks good, readers trust it more. Trust drives clicks. Clicks drive conversions.

Method 1: Add a Border to Your Entire Email Template

This is the most common approach — adding a border that wraps around the full email, framing the entire layout inside the inbox.

Step 1: Open your Constant Contact email editor

Log in to your Constant Contact account and navigate to Campaigns. Open an existing campaign or create a new one using the Cross-Device/Platform Editor (CPE). Note: this method works in the CPE editor only — the older 3ge templates either have borders built in or don’t support adding them.

Step 2: Click the Design tab

In the left-side panel of the email editor, click the Design tab. This is where your template-wide styling options live.

Step 3: Open Backgrounds & Borders

Inside the Design tab, select the Backgrounds & Borders option. This section controls the visual frame around your entire email.

Step 4: Select your border color

Click the Color Selector button next to the border option. You’ll see a color picker where you can enter a specific hex code to match your brand colors, or choose a color visually from the palette.

Step 5: Apply and preview

Once you’ve selected your color, the border is applied automatically. Use the preview function to check how it looks across desktop and mobile views before sending.

That’s it. Your entire email now has a consistent, branded border wrapping the full template.

Method 2: Add a Border to Individual Content Blocks

If you want more granular control — for example, highlighting a specific call-to-action section, an image, or a featured offer — you can add borders at the block level.

Step 1: Insert a content block

In the email editor, click the Layout tab in the right-hand panel. Choose the type of block you need: text, image, button, or a pre-built layout block. Drag and drop it into position within your email.

Step 2: Click on the block to select it

Once placed, click the block to select it. A toolbar will appear at the top of the editor.

Step 3: Open Block Settings

Click Block Settings in the toolbar. This opens a customization panel specific to that block.

Step 4: Scroll to the Border section

Inside Block Settings, scroll down until you find the Border section. Expand it to access your border options.

Step 5: Customize your border

You now have control over:

• Border color — choose a hex value that matches or complements your brand
• Border thickness — set the pixel width for subtle or bold framing
• Border style — solid, dashed, or dotted lines
• Rounded corners — toggle on for a softer, modern look

A light, neutral border (such as a soft grey at 1–2px) works well for most professional email designs without overpowering your content. For promotional emails, a bolder branded color at 2–3px creates strong visual separation between sections.

Step 6: Save your settings

Click Save inside the Block Settings panel. The border is applied to that specific block.

Repeat this process for any other blocks where you want individual borders.

Method 3: Add a Border Using HTML Custom Code

If you’re comfortable with HTML or need advanced control — such as applying borders that Constant Contact’s visual editor doesn’t expose — you can code them directly.

Step 1: Switch to the custom code editor

Inside your email editor, look for the option to edit HTML. In the CPE, you can access this via the code view or by adding an HTML block to your template.

Step 2: Add inline CSS border styling

Apply border styles using inline CSS on your table cells or div elements. Here’s a basic example:

<table width=”600″ style=”border: 2px solid #2A5AF8; border-radius: 6px;”>

  <tr>

    <td style=”padding: 20px;”>

      Your email content goes here.

    </td>

  </tr>

</table>

You can adjust:

• border-width (in px)
• border-color (hex code)
• border-style (solid, dashed, dotted)
• border-radius for rounded corners

Step 3: Test across email clients

HTML rendering varies between email clients. Always test your coded border in Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail before sending. Use Constant Contact’s built-in preview or tools like Litmus to catch any rendering issues.

The HTML method gives you full flexibility — but the visual editor methods are sufficient for most use cases and require no coding knowledge.

Tips for Getting Your Email Borders Right

Adding a border is easy. Making it look intentional takes a bit more thought. Keep these principles in mind:

Match your brand palette. Your border color should feel like it belongs in your email, not like it was added as an afterthought. Use your primary or secondary brand color, or a neutral that complements your design.

Use consistent thickness. Mixing 1px borders with 4px borders in the same email looks inconsistent. Pick one weight and stick with it across all blocks.

Don’t over-border. Adding borders to every block creates visual noise. Use them selectively — on a featured section, a CTA area, or the outer template frame.

Test on mobile. With 41% of emails opened on mobile, a border that looks sharp on desktop can appear too thick or misaligned on a smaller screen. Always preview before sending.

Align borders with your CTA. A border around your call-to-action button section draws the eye directly to where you want action taken. Use contrast to your advantage.

Common Issues and How to Fix Them

“I don’t see a Backgrounds & Borders option in my Design tab.”

You’re likely using the older 3ge email builder. This editor either includes a pre-built border or doesn’t support adding one. To get full border control, create a new email using the Cross-Device/Platform Editor (CPE), which is now the standard editor for all Constant Contact accounts.

“My border color looks different in different email clients.”

This is a rendering issue common with certain hex values and border styles. Stick to solid border styles and standard web-safe colors. Avoid gradients or complex styling in borders — email client support for these is inconsistent.

“My border shows up on desktop but disappears on mobile.”

Some mobile email clients strip certain CSS properties. Use inline styles rather than embedded stylesheets when coding borders in HTML, and test across major clients before sending.

“I applied a block border but it’s not showing.”

Check your background color settings. If your inner block background and your outer email background are the same color, the border won’t be visible. Contrast is required — even a 1px border needs a distinguishable color difference to show up.

How to Use Borders Strategically in Campaign Design

Borders aren’t just a cosmetic feature — they’re a design communication tool. Here’s how to use them with intent:

Frame your offer section. If you have a special promotion or limited-time deal, wrap that block in a bold border. It signals to the reader that this area is important without having to say it explicitly.

Create visual hierarchy. Use the full template border to establish the outer frame, then leave individual content blocks without borders to keep the interior clean. This creates a natural visual hierarchy that guides the reader downward.

Separate sections. Instead of heavy dividers, a subtle block border on alternating sections creates rhythm and separation without visual weight.

Reinforce trust signals. Testimonials, certifications, or trust badges placed inside a clean bordered block feel more authoritative. The frame adds credibility to the content inside it.

Highlight CTAs. A CTA button or CTA section inside a bordered block stands out more than one floating in open white space. The border concentrates attention.

With email click-through rates averaging just 2.09% across industries, small design improvements that focus attention on your CTA can have a measurable impact on campaign performance.

Conclusion

Adding a border to your Constant Contact emails is a small change with a real visual payoff. Whether you use the template-wide Design tab method, the block-level settings, or custom HTML, the process is straightforward once you know where to look.

The key is intentionality. Use borders to frame your content, draw attention to your offers, and create visual structure that makes your emails easier to scan — especially on mobile, where 41% of your audience is reading.

Clean design builds trust. Trust drives engagement. And engagement, in email marketing with its average $42 ROI per dollar spent, compounds quickly. Start with your next campaign, apply a border that fits your brand, and watch how a simple frame changes the way your emails feel to your audience.