Despite the benefits and increasing use of virtual events, they still do not substitute for the networking opportunities of the face-to-face experience. As a result, marketers are beginning to look to their virtual platforms not only as lead generators but also as a way to drive in-person attendance.

The Virtual Edge Institute, a consulting company that promotes the development of virtual events technology and best practices, recently concluded the second part of a two-year study examining the value of its own in-person and virtual events. The study, “Measuring and Maximizing the Impact of a Hybrid Event,” was conducted online in February and polled in-person and virtual attendees at the company's Virtual Edge Summit; there were 247 respondents. The summit focused on providing training for attendees planning their own virtual events, while the goal of the study was to compare the experiences of each type of event attendee.

The report found that 82% of attendees said virtual events are very helpful in making the decision to attend the live version of an event the following year. Also, 18% of virtual attendees at the Virtual Edge Summit last year went to the summit in person this year.

Michael Doyle, executive director of the Virtual Edge Institute, said marketers should take note that virtual can increase attendance at live events and begin tailoring their strategies with that in mind. “One of the primary goals marketers should have is driving attendance to their physical events,” he said. “It changes the way people approach virtual engagement.”

Unfortunately, though many marketers say they see the connection, very few actually have numbers measuring the effects. Staci Clark, global marketing manager for Cisco Live, the perpetual virtual event space for Cisco Systems, said the company will begin measuring the push from virtual at the next Cisco Live Global hybrid event, the company's largest partner and customer conference.

“Anecdotally, when we ask our virtual attendees if they would be more inclined to attend the live event, they say yes. Getting the data points [to prove that] would be the biggest prize,” Clark said. “We've increased our [in-person] attendance every year since we've had a virtual platform in place; our brand is now touching people more often then it has before.”

Cisco is actively marketing its face-to-face events to virtual attendees in the Cisco Live perpetual virtual environment. “They're still getting the information, but they're not getting the experience on-site,” Clark said. “We have 13,000 people on-site and 40,000 virtual. [Virtual attendees] are missing the interactive conversation, the social aspect, the networking aspect. We do our best to create that in virtual, but there's no amount of interaction that would replace in-person.”

However, Clark said, “we're very careful not to postion the virtual platform as a replacement.”

Clark said her marketing team considers the virtual event a pipeline to live attendance. “When we get people into the virtual brand, we can communicate with them differently,” she said. “In virtual, people tell you what their interests are and what their content preferences are. You can tailor messages to them that are specific to the live event.”

According to Virtual Edge's Doyle, there are several ways that marketers can change their message to push attendees from virtual events to in-person shows the following year. “Tease people with what they're not getting. Get them excited about the live experience,” he said.

Here are some tips from Doyle on how to convince virtual attendees to visit the in-person show: