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Boost Your Proposal to the Top of List

kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Update 10/13: Our Boosted Proposals test has ended, for now, so we can study the results and learn. We sincerely appreciate all of the feedback you gave us during this test, and we’re taking time to review our data and plan some improvements with your input in mind. 

We will share more information about our plans for a re-launch of Boosted Proposals. So stay tuned!

 

Open auctions will run their course; however, no new boosts will be available.

Our goal remains to support the best outcomes for Talent and Clients and help you win more. We’re working to make this feature even better as part of that effort!

 



We are testing a new way to help you
make your proposals stand out to clients. We’re dropping the required price of proposals to 1 Connect and allowing talent to bid for a chance to boost their proposal to appear in one of three promoted slots at the top of the client’s proposal manager. With boosting, you can promote yourself to clients by signalling that you are highly interested in their job. You can use your Connects to boost your proposal and increase the chances of being among the first that’s noticed. When clients see “Highly Interested” next to a blue lightning bolt, they’ll know these proposals are from talent who paid to express their interest by investing extra Connects into their proposal.

 

 

How it works 

When you submit a proposal, you can choose to boost it by spending additional Connects — whatever amount you think it’s worth. If you bid high enough relative to the other bidders, we’ll boost your proposal to the top of the stack, so it’s one of the first proposals the client sees.

 

  • Decide. If you really value a job, choose to bid to be eligible to boost your proposal above others. 
  • Bid. Set the number of Connects you’re willing to use to outbid other freelancers. We encourage you to bid the amount you truly think the job is worth.
  • Submit. Your proposal will be boosted to the client if your bid is high enough. If another freelancer bids more than you and your proposal is not boosted, we will refund some of your Connects (if boosting did not result in an engagement with a client). You’ll be notified either way and your proposal will still show up for the client, even if you’re outbid. 
  • The auction will last up to 7 days. It starts when the job is posted, and it is cleared after 7 days, or sooner if the job is closed or a hire has been made. 
  • Using Connects. The value of a job is always up to you, and you never have to worry about wasting Connects if you over or underbid. 

 

  • For example, if a job post allows for 3 boosted proposals, the top 3 bids will win those slots, and the final cost will be set by the lowest of those 3 bids. 

  • So if you spent 7 Connects to boost a proposal, and the lowest of the top 3 bidders spent just 5 — you’re in! Plus, you’ll receive a refund of 2 Connects to match the cost of the lowest qualifying bid.

  • What if you had bid just 3 Connects instead of 5? No worries! Your proposal won’t be boosted, but it will still show up for the client just like a regular proposal, and you’ll be refunded all the additional Connects you spent to boost your proposal.



We know you put a lot of effort into developing quality proposals, especially for projects you’re excited about. That’s one of the reasons we created the option to bid to boost your proposal, so you have an even better chance of being seen by clients for projects you’re really passionate about. We see this as a way to express your level of interest while increasing the odds of being noticed. So, in cases where boosting your proposal results in an engagement with a client, you will be charged - even if you are outbid, since this exposure can often lead to future interactions. An engagement means one or more of the following was done by the client (in other words, the client engaged a freelancer in at least one of these ways): viewed your proposal, messaged you, shortlisted you, sent an offer, and/or archived or declined your proposal. It’s another way to make your Connects work for you!

 

Screenshot from September 8, 2021 9_20 AM.png

 

For more information about boosting your proposals so you’re more likely to land the work you really want, check out our help article.

 

Excited to try this out? We are eager to gather feedback while we’re testing this feature. Let us know your thoughts so we can continue to make the work marketplace even better for you.

629 Comments
petra_r
Community Member

Valeria K wrote:

We are eager to gather feedback while we’re testing this feature. 


I would have thought that if Upwork was that "eager to gather feedback", they'd have taken some of the feedback provided when this was accidentally released into the wild last month on board?

 


Valeria K wrote:

Let us know your thoughts


We did. Yet.... here we are.

wescowley
Community Member

Valeria K wrote:

Hi Wes and Martina,

 

Thanks for sharing your feedback and questions. This option is currently being tested with select jobs so it will not be available for all jobs.
Boosted proposals will be pinned to the top of the client’s Proposal Manager. All other proposals will be located below and they will be ranked organically just like they are today. The client can scroll down to see all proposals and will be able to sort them as usual. Boosted proposals will stay pinned on top. The client will see a blue lightning bolt icon with “Highly interested” next to a boosted proposal. If they hover over, they'll see a message "This freelancer spent more on this job to get noticed."

We will enforce all of our standard rules for proposals and client job preferences. Replying to invites will still require no Connects. While those proposals can’t be boosted, they are given a dedicated place within the Upwork Proposal Manager and will have an “Invited” badge.Currently, while we’re testing this feature, there are three slots available to boosted proposals. In the event of a tie bid, the earlier time stamp prevails.
The auction is closed after 7 days and there will not be an option to boost a proposal after that. The top bidders at that time will appear at the top of the list and the rest of the proposals will appear organically as usual. The bids will not disappear and there will be no need to resubmit them.


Valeria, thanks for those answers.

 

Following up to see if I have the mechanics right. Is this how it works?

Shortly after the job post goes up, freelancers A, B, and C bid 3, and everyone else bids 1. A, B, and C get boosted. 

Two days later, D comes along and bids 5. One of the first three, let's say C, gets booted from the boosting and D takes their place.

 

Does C get 2 connects back because they're no longer boosted? 

Or do they lose them because they were boosted for a while? 

 

Then, this outbidding and bumping people out of the slots continues until day 7, when the slots are locked and stay that way until the job is closed.

 

Is that how it works?

VladimirG
Community Manager

Thanks for the follow-up, Wes.

Yes, that's the correct sequence of events but I'd like to note that additional Connects will be refunded to freelancer "C" from your example only if their proposal didn’t lead to an eligible interaction while it was boosted. We’ll only charge them one Connect in that case.

Eligible interactions include:

  • The client opens your proposal

  • The client sends an offer to you

  • The client shortlists your proposal

  • The client messages you

  • The client archives your proposal

  • The client declines your proposal

feed_my_eyes
Community Member

Jamie F wrote:

For a lot of people, 6 connects will be a big deal but for me it's nothing. I could spend 6 connects on a job that I'm only half interested in (not that I apply for jobs unless I'm 100% interested), and still outbid somebody for whom it's a dream contract. 


I suspect that for many people, 6 connects will be "nothing" - after all, most of the good jobs already cost 6 connects. There'll be loads of people boosting by 6 connects, resulting in ties, so the first people to bid will get the top spots. I'm rarely one of the first to bid (because I'm, like, busy working), so there will be little point in me even attempting to boost my bids. Even though connects are cheap (from my perspective), I can't see myself wanting to spend 20-50 per proposal. So... this isn't for me. I'll leave it for the desperate newbies - good luck to you, you're going to need it.

m_terrazas
Community Member

Wes C wrote:

Valeria K wrote:

Hi Wes and Martina,

 

Thanks for sharing your feedback and questions. This option is currently being tested with select jobs so it will not be available for all jobs.
Boosted proposals will be pinned to the top of the client’s Proposal Manager. All other proposals will be located below and they will be ranked organically just like they are today. The client can scroll down to see all proposals and will be able to sort them as usual. Boosted proposals will stay pinned on top. The client will see a blue lightning bolt icon with “Highly interested” next to a boosted proposal. If they hover over, they'll see a message "This freelancer spent more on this job to get noticed."

We will enforce all of our standard rules for proposals and client job preferences. Replying to invites will still require no Connects. While those proposals can’t be boosted, they are given a dedicated place within the Upwork Proposal Manager and will have an “Invited” badge.Currently, while we’re testing this feature, there are three slots available to boosted proposals. In the event of a tie bid, the earlier time stamp prevails.
The auction is closed after 7 days and there will not be an option to boost a proposal after that. The top bidders at that time will appear at the top of the list and the rest of the proposals will appear organically as usual. The bids will not disappear and there will be no need to resubmit them.


Valeria, thanks for those answers.

 

Following up to see if I have the mechanics right. Is this how it works?

Shortly after the job post goes up, freelancers A, B, and C bid 3, and everyone else bids 1. A, B, and C get boosted. 

Two days later, D comes along and bids 5. One of the first three, let's say C, gets booted from the boosting and D takes their place.

 

Does C get 2 connects back because they're no longer boosted? 

Or do they lose them because they were boosted for a while? 

 

Then, this outbidding and bumping people out of the slots continues until day 7, when the slots are locked and stay that way until the job is closed.

 

Is that how it works?


Well now I see the new thread when a freelancer has bid and is suddenly returned the connects from the bid.
It could be something like: Can't I bid again at work to get back in the top three, please?

Ideas about new posts are allowed as a result of this nonsense.

jr-translation
Community Member

Vladimir G wrote:

Thanks for the follow-up, Wes.

Yes, that's the correct sequence of events but I'd like to note that additional Connects will be refunded to freelancer "C" from your example only if their proposal didn’t lead to an eligible interaction while it was boosted. We’ll only charge them one Connect in that case.

Eligible interactions include:

  • The client opens your proposal

  • The client sends an offer to you

  • The client shortlists your proposal

  • The client messages you

  • The client archives your proposal

  • The client declines your proposal


In other words freelancer "C" will get the refund as long as the client hat not looked at the proposal.

 

As a client, I do not hire the first person but I do look at the proposals. I would find it highly irritating if someone who was top 3 would suddenly disappear from the list.

Will clients know, how many connects where spend by the freelancers?

creatifynetwork
Community Member

I will then encourage everyone to just spend 1 bid on each job, that way we all save our proposals and the system will keep rating like how it rate right now 😄

moonraker
Community Member

Shreef E wrote:

I will then encourage everyone to just spend 1 bid on each job, that way we all save our proposals and the system will keep rating like how it rate right now 😄


A nash strategy.

If only it were feasible. 

m_terrazas
Community Member

Jennifer R wrote:

Vladimir G wrote:

Thanks for the follow-up, Wes.

Yes, that's the correct sequence of events but I'd like to note that additional Connects will be refunded to freelancer "C" from your example only if their proposal didn’t lead to an eligible interaction while it was boosted. We’ll only charge them one Connect in that case.

Eligible interactions include:

  • The client opens your proposal

  • The client sends an offer to you

  • The client shortlists your proposal

  • The client messages you

  • The client archives your proposal

  • The client declines your proposal


In other words freelancer "C" will get the refund as long as the client hat not looked at the proposal.

 

As a client, I do not hire the first person but I do look at the proposals. I would find it highly irritating if someone who was top 3 would suddenly disappear from the list.

Will clients know, how many connects where spend by the freelancers?


I think someone commented on it, but now I realize it. For 7 days, could it be that the client is constantly seeing the first three freelancers change?
Have I understood it correctly?

m_terrazas
Community Member

Shreef E wrote:

I will then encourage everyone to just spend 1 bid on each job, that way we all save our proposals and the system will keep rating like how it rate right now 😄


Best idea award for now, applause.