"If you are not buying votes then feel free to use the #NoBidBots tag that some of us will check and support the good posts."
I used that tag for quite some time and I had some good luck there for sure. The only reason I stoped was because I started getting some votes from delegating to canna-curate (which is not a bid bot but I am still getting votes in exchange for something) and I wasn't sure how the community would feel about that. I still totally believe in that tag though.
"[...] but if we can catch such cases early on we may be able to put them on a better path."
I think that is a good way to go about things. Sometimes all people need is someone to tell them to stop and maybe even how to do things better. It might not work every time but some would listen and start working to make their content better.