At SES San Jose, two themes emerged from a panel of experts discussing how small and medium-sized businesses can make the most of their viral marketing campaigns: understanding one’s audience and good old fashioned perseverance.

(Coverage of the SES San Jose conference will continue through its end.  Keep an eye on WebProNews for more notes and video from the event this week.)

It’s important to know, once you’ve crafted your message or content, where to put it. Digg.com, for example, likely isn’t interested in content related to ageing women, unless the predominantly young, male, and pasty are currently concerned about their mothers.

"I put my information where people are looking for it," said Fionn Downhill, CEO & president of Elixir International. And once you’ve decided where people are looking for it, you should "make it really, really easy for people to spread your information."

Then, as a marketer, you have to do something you really don’t want to do: take your hands off of it and let it go like a child sans training wheels. "You can not control viral marketing, but you can enable it," said Downhill.

But don’t expect success on the first, or second, or third or. . .(getting the drift?). . .go ’round. Search Engine Guide editor in chief Jennifer Laycock emphasized the importance of the virtue of tenacity in King James terms: "Thou shalt know thy customer. Thou shalt be remarkable. Thou shalt try, try again."

There’s that audience awareness thing Downhill mentioned again, and "every time you launch a new viral campaign," says Laycock, "it is going to help you learn more about your customers."

What’s the secret to creating a viral campaign in the first place? Well, this topic has never really lent itself to easy answers in that regard. But Laycock does suggest, aside from knowing thy audience, knowing thyself as well. "Use the viral campaign to address a problem you are having."

Once you’ve addressed that problem, think about what the way you’ve addressed it says about you, and if it matches up with how you want to be viewed. "When creating a viral campaign, think about: What do you wish people were saying about you?"
 

Cindy Krum, Director of New Media Strategies at Blue Moon Works, Inc, contributed to this article. Blue Moon Works, Inc. is a new media marketing agency that specializes in Mobile SEO.