Technical abilities

• Google Ads and PPC technical knowledge [7.5/10]: Zeba naturally broke the Google strategy into branded and non-branded campaigns and explained the reasoning behind each, noting that brand campaigns carry lower CPC with higher conversion intent, while non-brand is where you expand reach but need tighter monitoring. Her keyword match type walkthrough was a genuinely useful moment in the call, where she used "Yacht Week Croatia" as a working example to show how exact match keeps spend controlled while broad match widens the net but can get expensive without negative keywords in place. Her bidding strategy was also directionally sound, starting with maximize conversions to gather data, then shifting to target CPA once enough volume builds up. When we challenged her on what happens if CPC rises to £4-5, she walked through the downstream impact clearly, from fewer clicks through to lower conversions and a higher cost per booking. We feel she has a solid working knowledge of Google Ads at a hands-on level, and the way she referenced her JungleWorks experience felt genuine and grounded.

• Campaign strategy and full-funnel thinking [8/10]: This is probably Zeba's strongest area. She approached the Yacht Week brief as a full-funnel problem from the start, building demand through waitlist sign-ups pre-launch and pivoting to conversion urgency once bookings opened. The 70/30 Meta-Google split was well-reasoned, and she articulated clearly why a discovery-led, experience-based product needs social-first investment to build a retargeting pool before Google can do its job of capturing intent. Her audience segmentation was also thoughtfully done, splitting cold prospecting from warm retargeting with different creative directions and messaging for each. She was smart about retargeting budget management too, keeping it dynamic and growing spend as the audience pool grows rather than fixing a percentage upfront. We think the campaign architecture she presented is practical and well-structured for someone at her experience level, and the scenario-based forecast table (conservative, base case, and aggressive) showed she thinks about planning with appropriate uncertainty rather than overpromising on numbers.

• Data interpretation and analytical thinking [7.5/10]: Zeba built a full calculation sheet for the campaign, working through CPM, CTR, CPC, waitlist CVR, and booking CVR for both Meta and Google separately. She cross-referenced travel industry benchmarks for her numbers and was upfront about where she was estimating versus where she had real data to work from. We appreciated that she separated her CVR into two distinct stages (click to waitlist pre-launch, and click to booking post-launch) rather than blending them, which shows she understands the mechanics of a two-phase funnel rather than treating it as a single conversion event. When pushed on scenarios like CTR dropping to 0.7% or CPC rising to £4-5, she walked through the downstream impact clearly and calmly, connecting the dots between inputs and outcomes without needing to be guided. She also acknowledged where her assumptions were directional and offered a path to validation through early campaign data, showing that she understands how the numbers connect to each other.

• Adaptability and problem-solving under pressure (8/10): During the technical interview, when we pushed back on specific assumptions (the 6% CVR, the CPC sensitivity, the non-brand cannibalization question), her responses were composed and structured. Her answer on what she'd do if CTR dropped showed she knows where to look first (creatives and hooks), and her response on CPC sensitivity showed a clear escalation logic. She'd optimize first, wait a few days, then reallocate if needed. She also mentioned she'd create a separate landing page for ads if the main website messaging didn't align, drawing on her content background to address the problem directly, which felt like a practical and cross-functional way of thinking.

Areas of growth