AI vs. Traditional Lead Generation: Cost Comparison in the European Market

Back in 2021, the EU investment met a significant drop foreign direct investment inflows which put the competitiveness of the EU under severe threat. 

According to the Jacques Delors Centre, one of the ways to resolve this is to have the EU industrial policy institute a smarter operation and governance, which for some can be easier said than done.

However, it is not entirely impossible. 

To participate in a smarter and more innovative movement, implementing actual intelligent tools such as AI would be an ideal pursuit. And in this age where speed, intelligence, and even automation can be a deciding factor, traditional initiatives may no longer cut it. 

But the question is, is AI really worth it?

Here at AnyBiz, achieving business growth is no longer a pipe dream. We’ve developed one of the most, if not the most, advanced AI-powered lead generation system in the market.

For this blog, however, we will not just uncover the advantage of AI and traditional lead generation in the EU market, we will also explore their effectiveness, ROI, and overall efficiency. 

Understanding the EU Market and the Use of AI

The EU — or European Union — comprises 27 European countries which began as a regional economic agreement in the early 1950’s. Since then it developed into a supranational organization and continues to be one of the most innovative and prosperous regions today.

Recent events from the past years, however, its competitiveness has shown signs of decline.

But still, Europe has a massive global advantage. They have various thought leaders and businesses that possess industry-specific knowledge and a high quality of data domain that can make its competitiveness gain momentum.

This naturally leads us to lead generation, a critical strategy for companies seeking to identify and engage potential customers effectively. For a continent with countries pioneering AI advancements, one might assume that European corporations are already embedding AI into their lead generation processes.

Which warrants the immense potential of AI into the EU market.

But for a continent that has the country that pioneered most AI advancements, it is safe to think that many corporations are employing AI into their arsenal right?

A study in Germany revealed that 20% of companies use AI in daily operations, the rest of the 80% are still on the drawing board. 

This is a surprising statistic, but not entirely shocking given that many corporations all over the world still uphold traditional strategies with utmost value.

The opportunity is clear: by adopting AI-driven lead generation strategies, European businesses can unlock more efficient prospecting, better targeting, and ultimately, stronger growth in a competitive global market.

The traditional approach to lead generation for the EU market

Traditional lead generation mainly involves cold calling, direct mail, attending or hosting an event, networking, and manual outreach.

These are the foundation of marketing, which is more likely to affect your sales and revenue. Its contributions are without a doubt foundational to the development of various prominent marketing strategies such as email marketing, and SEO.

But is it still effective today, or should we render it outdated?

Understanding the stance of the EU market and their need to implement a more competitive strategy most businesses consider these traditional approaches as obsolete. 

Yet many may disagree and find it to still be a staple and effective. Let us uncover why.

Cold calling

Cold calling involves sales representatives with a role of reaching out to potential leads and engaging them into buying or subscribing to their services. 

Many non-sales professionals may take this as a surface-level, and think that a sales representative would not go into other strategies such as research, prospect identification, and follow-up.

And before there is an established responsibility of an appointment setter, sales representatives also perform these tasks.

So would it project an ROI in the EU Market?

• Costs: Cold calling will require necessary expenses such as human resources and their training. Of course, there is also the matter of their compensation, employee benefits, and the costs of the telephones and dialers to make everything seem more efficient.

• Scalability: One sales rep would not be enough, to achieve scalability in manual cold calling you will need to hire more sales representatives, which will translate to more labor cost expenses.
• Effectiveness:  No doubt manual cold calling can be effective, but if we are going to observe the current EU market conditions, it may result in lower response rates. But what it is good at is the capacity of the sales representative with potential prospects at a deeper level compared to some chatbots.

Direct mail

Sending sales coupons or other promotions are just some of the most necessary functions of direct mail lead generation. It is the traditional equivalent of email marketing where if a potential prospect subscribes to a newsletter, the company sends them a continuous message that promotes their product or services.

But, of course, sending direct mails once a day, or even a week, is not ideal both for the business and the prospects receiving the mail. 

Here’s why.

• Costs: Not only would you need to pay for the delivery, but you also need to print and consider the materials used for the mail. Although it may be cheaper to print small batches, it will not take a while for the expenses to pile up.

• Scalability: Since it is time-consuming and expensive, it is not safe to say that direct mails are scalable. This is why many businesses transformed their mailing marketing to email since it is cheaper, modernized, and overall effective.

• Effectiveness: Direct mail often has a low conversion rate, and with email marketing being the preferred form of communication, direct mail may not be as effective in today’s digital age.

Manual outreach

One can think that manual outreach practices require door-to-door sales, and although very rare these days, traditional marketing and lead generation started with this method.

But we are here not to talk about door-to-door sales as a form of manual outreach — despite it being one of the most original traditional lead generation strategies. 

Even after that, corporations are using email, social media, and networking as a form of manual outreach, which will require prospect identification, crafting messages and sending follow-ups. 

• Costs: Manual outreach will require human effort and time — and we are talking a lot of it — which means hiring additional employees to manage outreach increases costs.
• Scalability: Scaling this method involves increasing the number of team members, which drives up labor costs.
• Effectiveness: While personalized outreach can be effective, it is time-consuming and often leads to burnout due to the volume of work involved.

The rise of AI-powered lead generation

The World Economic Forum predicted that AI has the potential to contribute at least 15.7 trillion USD by 2030.

For the EU’s GDP, using this can be transformative and can get their competitiveness back on track. 

In terms of lead generation, AI-powered lead generation systems granted businesses with the power of automation which disrupted traditional methods.

But first, let us explain the power of AI.

What makes AI effective in lead generation?

AI systems such as AnyBiz operate under the most advanced machine learning algorithms and Large Language model (LLM) that can help businesses engage prospects more efficiently and identify their needs.

AnyBiz represents the ideal AI system for lead generation supplying key features of what an AI lead generation tool should possess.

Let’s break it down. 

Automated outreach via the AI sales agent

Using machine learning and LLM led to the development of one of the most advanced AI sales tools in the market — AnyBiz’s AI sales agent.

Using a prospect database of over 400 million contacts AnyBiz will use multichannel outreach strategies such as email, LinkedIn, and AI cold call.

Follow-ups, segmentation and lead scoring

An AI tool should have the capacity to segment how prospects behave and interact with your contents, this can then be used as an effective tool for follow-ups.

AnyBiz’s AI sales agent can understand if a prospect has buying intentions, wants to schedule an appointment, or simply wants a consultation.

Using this, the AI sales agent can also confirm the best time to contact the prospect.

See: Cold Calling: Best Day & Time Chosen by AI – AnyBiz 

CRM integration

CRMs are instrumental in managing and analyzing customer interactions and available data which businesses use for easier interaction and engagement. AI tools such as AnyBiz are capable of integrating its system with popular CRM tools such as Hubspot, making your outreach and lead generation pursuit easier. 

Hyper-personalized messaging

Automation is a given for many AI sales tools, but one important feature that is often neglected is personalization.

Hyper-personalization is the catalyst of what makes the best AI sales tool. It should give you the ability to type personal instructions to help tailor communication based on where the prospect is in the sales journey. 

Multilingual and tone Customization

AnyBiz supports over 30 languages, including English (various dialects), Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, and many more, making it ideal for global outreach. Additionally, you can select the tone of voice—formal, professional, friendly, or conversational—to better connect with your audience.

Costs of AI lead generation

For the EU market, thinking long term is one of the best strategies to help them regain their competitiveness. 

The incorporation of smart and automated features of AI lead generation tools, such as AnyBiz, may require some upfront and initial investments but it can also guarantee cost savings in the long run.

Some of the expenses that one should consider is as follows: 

• Software subscription: Almost every AI tool is available on a subscription basis, there are some that are free, but will have limited capacity and may not be that helpful for your business. Most pricing structures are based on their features.

• Initial setup costs: Setting up AI tools may involve integrating with existing systems like CRM platforms and training sales teams.

• Ongoing maintenance: Some AI tools require regular updates and maintenance, but they often have dedicated support teams, reducing internal overhead.

Despite the initial costs, AI tools are still reliable and scalable. It can help you automate various tasks that were traditionally done by human resources.

In the end, it can reduce long-term labor costs. 

Comparing the costs: AI vs. traditional lead generation

To make an informed decision, let’s compare the costs of AI-powered lead generation vs. traditional methods.

1. Cold calling vs. AI-driven outreach

• Cold calling: Requires a dedicated team of SDRs, training, and high labor costs. While effective for certain industries, the time-to-lead and cost-per-lead tend to be higher.
  
• AI-driven outreach: With AI, sales teams can automate cold outreach and follow-ups, reaching more leads in less time. The cost-per-lead tends to be much lower as AI tools take care of repetitive tasks.
  

2. Direct mail vs. AI-driven email campaigns

• Direct mail: Direct mail campaigns are costly due to printing, postage, and material costs. They’re also hard to scale across regions or countries.
  
  
• AI-driven email campaigns: Email outreach through AI tools is much cheaper, with minimal costs for sending emails. AI tools also allow for hyper-personalized campaigns at scale, improving the chances of engagement.
  

3. Manual outreach vs. AI lead scoring and qualification

• Manual outreach: Manual lead qualification is time-consuming and often requires a large sales team to handle outreach efforts.
  
  
• AI lead scoring: AI tools automatically score leads based on intent and engagement, allowing teams to focus on high-priority leads. This drastically reduces the time and effort spent on manual qualification.

Legal considerations for AI lead generation in Europe

In the European market, compliance with data privacy regulations, like GDPR, is essential when using AI tools for lead generation. Businesses must ensure that AI tools are:

• GDPR-compliant: Ensuring proper consent is obtained before contacting prospects and that personal data is handled securely.
• Transparent: Clearly explaining data usage and AI functionalities to prospects.

AI tools like AnyBiz.io are designed to help businesses stay compliant with these regulations, ensuring that all outreach activities are executed legally and ethically.

AI lead generation vs. traditional methods in Europe

AI tools such as AnyBiz, not just offer the promise of automation. It offers the promise of the future.

AI applications in Europe can have a massive impact on their key industry and businesses. 

But this does not only apply to Europe. AI is global development, and more companies should adopt it in order to scale their operations and implement growth.

If you want to experience firsthand the culmination of what an AI technology can achieve, try AnyBiz today for just 0.99 USD or book a live demo to see how AI can transform your team’s performance.