Using the bot earlier means also that you keep more of the payout from the bot vote.

I use bots later sometimes so that it distributes to the curated votes on purpose. I'm now experimenting with hitting the hot section of the topic I want it seen in, and I don't go as far as trending because that takes a crazy amount and I'd rather it go there if it deserves it. (Yeah ideally hitting hot should be the same principle, but it's exactly what you say about not being able to gain visibility).

By the way, I have an earlier post that computes your profit from bots depending in terms of SBD input that you might be interested in.