The shot doesn’t really spread crazily in all directions IRL. There’re lots of videos on YouTube showing how accurate they really are contrary to what’s shown in games. So ‘shooting in the general direction of the enemy’ is not the best strategy. The thing that could help is the mechanic for a partial hit.
Point is, the shot is not going to hit a bull’s eye at any range just because it’s shot and spreads. It’s going to hit if you aim properly, and the better your aim is, the more shot pellets are going to hit. So it’s generally harder to miss entirely while shooting a shotgun, but a solid hit still depends on your aim.