Last weekend a tweet from my friend Jessica compelled me to comment. It was about grocery delivery, which is one of my favorite services for parents of small children.

@jessicaesquire Nor should you. Grocery delivery was practically invented for parents of a baby and a toddler.

— Cindy Meltzer (@cindymeltz) October 15, 2012

She then went on to say how she preferred Roche Bros. delivery to their local competitor. When I asked her why, she described how they have no tipping, no minimum order requirement and a full selection of grocery products. And free pie.

@jessicaesquire Okay, sold. Going with RB for the official Thanksgiving ingredient delivery. Hope they’re well stocked on canned pumpkin!

— Cindy Meltzer (@cindymeltz) October 15, 2012

And although she had only mentioned Roche Bros. once by their Twitter handle, they had been listening in on our entire conversation (what us social media types call “social listening”), because the next morning we both got this tweet from them.

@cindymeltz we’ll keep some pumpkin waiting for you!@jessicaesquire thanks for the love!

— Roche Bros.(@Roche_Bros) October 15, 2012

But it doesn’t end there. When Jessica’s scheduled grocery delivery arrived later that day, Roche Bros. included a thank you gift: a bouquet of flowers for her and two painted pumpkins for her children.

Jessica was so impressed that she posted the story to her professional network – the Boston Parent Bloggers, an active community of over 130 area mom and dad bloggers.

Much “liking” ensued. The bloggers were enamored that one of their own would have such a great experience with a brand.

Oh, and then Jessica wrote a glowing review about them on her blog.

By using social listening strategies – following the Twitter conversations about their brand, and then going the extra mile with their customer, the smart people at Roche Bros. inadvertently reached out to over 100 bloggers without a formal campaign.

And they got a post on Jessica’s blog. And mine.

Get ready for a busy delivery season, Roche Bros.