Ayisha Yousef talks turning Black Friday fails into lessons

On episode 327 of PPC Live The Podcast, I speak to Ayisha Yousef, a familiar face to the PPC Live audience. Known for her expertise in e-commerce and performance marketing, Ayisha shares a bold story about a major Black Friday mistake — and how she managed to recover from it.

The Black Friday F-Up

Setting the Scene

A few years ago, Ayisha was working agency-side during Black Friday week — the most crucial time for e-commerce advertisers. She managed a team of six or seven and asked them to remove ad scheduling from top campaigns to ensure ads ran throughout the busy period.

But instead of adjusting the schedule to “always on,” the team deleted the schedule entirely, meaning the ads didn’t run at all.

The result? The campaigns in their top six markets went completely dark for the entire Black Friday.

Discovering the Mistake

The issue wasn’t caught until the following Saturday. Because other campaigns were still performing well, the system didn’t trigger alerts. When Ayisha reviewed performance data and noticed discrepancies, she immediately realised what had happened.

“It was the opposite of a lightbulb moment,” she said. “My stomach dropped — I knew exactly what had gone wrong.”

Crisis Mode: Fixing the Fallout

Ayisha acted fast. She turned the affected campaigns back on, quantified the issue, and immediately escalated it to her head of department — even though it was a Saturday. Together, they analysed what went wrong, why alerts failed, and how to prevent it in the future.

By Monday, they presented a clear, honest report to the client. While the client wasn’t happy, they appreciated the transparency and the learnings the team shared.

In the end, the account still hit its overall Black Friday targets, thanks to strong performance from other campaigns and underspend savings.

Leadership, integrity, and protecting the team

One of the standout moments in Ayisha’s story was how she protected her team. When management asked who made the mistake, she refused to name names.

“I gave the instruction,” she said. “So ultimately, it was on me.”

She later explained to her team what had happened — and discovered they didn’t even realise it was an error. It was a lack of technical understanding, not negligence.

This act of integrity not only earned Ayisha respect but also reinforced the importance of psychological safety within a team. Mistakes happen, but how leaders respond determines whether teams grow stronger or weaker.

Lessons learned: communication and oversight

The biggest takeaway for Ayisha? Show your team how to do things, even if they say they know.

During high-stakes periods like Black Friday, it’s better to double-check instructions than assume everything’s fine. “It’s not about micromanaging,” Ayisha explained, “it’s about safeguarding performance when it matters most.”

She now ensures that junior team members understand the basics — from ad schedules to campaign settings — even as automation becomes more dominant in PPC.

Common PPC mistakes advertisers still make

As a consultant, Ayisha often audits PPC accounts and still sees recurring issues. One of the most common? Over-segmentation of campaigns.

Advertisers often split campaigns too finely by audience or targeting type, diluting data and harming performance. With AI-driven bidding strategies, Ayisha recommends a broader campaign structure — similar to Meta’s approach — that lets algorithms learn from more data.

“The more conversions and data your campaign has,” she said, “the smarter Google’s AI becomes. Over-segmentation slows that learning.”

Why talking about mistakes matters

PPC conversations online often focus on wins — big ROAS numbers, new client wins, and success stories. But Ayisha and Anu agree that talking about mistakes is just as important.

“It gives a more true picture,” Ayisha said. “This isn’t Disney World. Things go wrong, and we learn from them. Sometimes the only takeaway is: don’t do that again.”

By sharing failures, the PPC community helps new practitioners set realistic expectations — and prevents burnout when things inevitably don’t go as planned.

Advice for PPC managers

For Ayisha, great management comes down to balance: supporting your team without overloading them.

“People make more mistakes when they’re anxious,” she said. “If you make your team feel safe, they’ll take ownership, learn faster, and perform better.”

She also encourages PPC professionals to take their time before jumping into management roles. “Being a middle manager is one of the hardest jobs — you’re responsible for the work and the people. Make sure you’re ready for that responsibility.”

Final thoughts

Ayisha’s story is a powerful reminder that even the most experienced marketers can make mistakes — especially in fast-paced, high-pressure moments like Black Friday. But what defines a true expert isn’t perfection; it’s how they respond, recover, and grow.

As Ayisha puts it: “Things happen. The key is learning from them and putting systems in place so they don’t happen again.”