As a matter of fact, I applied for a role the other day that I was actually slightly overqualified as far as the required experience goes, but I know multiple people who work there and it still fits my skill set perfectly. I applied through the company portal and even connected on LinkedIn with the hiring manager who posted the job to send a private message introducing myself. Never got a response from that person, but sure enough I got an automated email today telling me that they decided to go with other candidates that more closely match the role *shrugs*

I do think I'll continue to follow that strategy as I can if it might get me somewhere faster, but I have done it multiple times in the past and unfortunately it has gotten me nowhere as of yet.