Whether they’re using a virtual platform to complement or replace a live event, organizers worry that their attendees won’t sign up, won’t show up or won’t know how to participate once they get there. As some of the earliest adopters, corporate event organizers have found out what works and what doesn’t when it comes to luring reticent attendees to the virtual space.While your event may serve a different audience, the takeaways remain the same. Here, four tried-and-true tips to get attendees to explore your virtual event.

Give them options. Hybrid events (programs that combine virtual and live components) can offer first-time virtual event attendees the chance to test the waters before going 100-percent virtual. IT products distributor ASI executed its first virtual event in May. The ASI Virtual Tech Expo featured an exhibit hall with more than 25 vendors and a series of six educational seminars. The global virtual event was designed to complement ASI’s live multi-city road show and to broaden the brand’s reach beyond what budgets and geography would allow.“Having that kind of ability to go beyond where you just have your core location is a tremendous use for the virtual show,” says Kent Tibbils, Vice President of Marketing, ASI Corp.

More than 730 attendees — double ASI’s projections — came to the virtual event. The hybrid approach not only drove a high turnout online, it helped drive its live event customers back to the virtual environment. “If they saw something at our live event but maybe wanted more information, they could come back and find data they were looking for at the virtual show,” says Tibbils. “It brings the live show into the virtual world a little bit more for us. It integrates the two things closer.” (Virtual Platform: ON24, San Francisco).

Lure them in. It may be the oldest traffic driver in the toolbox, but conference attendees can’t get enough of a tantalizing giveaway offer. This June, trucking parts manufacturer Navistar replaced its annual show for the first time with a virtual event called Power Up, Expo 2009. To encourage reluctant attendees to explore the virtual trade show floor, the brand created a treasure hunt. Customers had to complete tasks, such as downloading collateral or watching videos at select virtual booths, every day for the first five days of the event for a chance to win prizes like a trip to Key West, flatscreen TVs and gift cards from The Home Depot. The treasure hunt boosted traffic and kept it consistently high for the event’s first five days.

“I think that was the biggest driver,” says Kathy Seegebrecht, Vice President of Marketing and Brand at Navistar. Attendance to Navistar’s virtual expo was four times higher than past live events with more than 1,600 people from around the world participating (Virtual Platform: Design Reactor, San Francisco).

Offer a helping hand. Early adopter corporations like HP, Cisco and Microsoft were among the first to embrace virtual experiences, but today’s platforms are so intuitive and accessible that even late adopters can jump in and ramp up quickly. To help smooth the transition from live to virtual for its core audience — truck drivers and truck dealers from across the country — Navistar’s virtual expo featured a help desk for attendees who needed a little extra TLC.

The help desk received calls on the first two days of the event, but by the end of the week there were virtually none. “It was easy to use; if not, this group of people probably wouldn’t have adopted it,” says Seegebrecht. The expo was so user-friendly that truckers were pulling over and attending the virtual event from the cabs of their 18- wheelers.

Show them around. This April, financial management firm Ariba traded in its annual live event for its first-ever virtual event. In the weeks leading up to Ariba LIVE 2009, Ariba hosted webcasts that walked prospective attendees through the online environment to show them what to expect at the show. “The training makes such a difference in how they think about it and how they talk about it,” says Traci Oziemblowsky, Senior Manager of Global Corporate Events at Ariba. “We even made a video for our Web site ahead of time so people could click on it, walk through and understand what they were signing up for.” (Virtual Platform: Unisfair,Menlo Park, CA).

To further warm up its audiences, Ariba kicked off the two-day event with a pre-recorded greeting by the company’s CMO. He welcomed attendees to the show, “walked around” the virtual space and directed attendees to the virtual environment’s three main attractions: the keynote, breakout sessions and the exhibitor show floor. The event drew more than 2,500 unique registrants and the virtual environment got so many hits in the months after the event that Ariba kept it on demand for three additional months.

Jessica Heasley is the executive editor of Event Marketer magazine.

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