Do you contact the search chair before applying for a position?

In some job advertisements, the chair of search committee is named for informal inquiries.

I contacted them with a brief resume, asking if they are interested in my line of experiences or not. They simply replied me "send the application, we will review it".

I am curious what is informal inquiries? What should/can I ask?

In general, is it a bad idea to contact the search people before applying, when I am serious about a specific position? (most applications are shot in the dark, but we are extremely interested in some positions)